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Re: [RFC] Our release cycles are getting longer
- From: David Carlton <david dot carlton at sun dot com>
- To: Michael Veksler <mveksler at techunix dot technion dot ac dot il>
- Cc: Andrew Pinski <pinskia at physics dot uc dot edu>, David Carlton <David dot Carlton at sun dot com>, gcc at gcc dot gnu dot org
- Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:02:43 -0800
- Subject: Re: [RFC] Our release cycles are getting longer
- References: <200701240416.l0O4GlDJ001172@localhost.localdomain> <45B722F8.2010308@tx.technion.ac.il>
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:12:24 +0200, Michael Veksler <mveksler@techunix.technion.ac.il> said:
> Deterministic unit-tests are almost useless in long lived projects,
I think you might be using the term "unit test" differently from me?
Nothing is more valuable for a long-lived project than having unit
tests covering every line of code, every branch, every boundary
condition. I don't remember the reason for all of my own coding
decisions six months ago, let alone somebody else's coding decisions
years ago, but if pervasive unit tests are in place, it doesn't matter
nearly as much: they will give a helpful reminder if I've
inadvertently broken something. In some cases, adding randomness can
improve the quality of the test suite, but deterministic tests are
hugely valuable as well.
David Carlton
david.carlton@sun.com