Minitest & Rails: Total BFFs

When I started in Ruby I was intimidated by testing. Partially because the Ruby culture identifies so strongly with testing, and partially because I had no idea what I was doing. I did it wrong more than I did it right. At one point I even gave up on testing because I didn't know how to do it in a way that wouldn't cost more time than not having tests at all. And then, suddenly, a switch went off in my head and I got it. I figured out how to test and how to design code so it could be tested. Then I figured out how to drive the design of my code with tests. Finally things made sense.

Since then I've paired with a fair number of programmers and a common source of discussion has been testing. I've found that my experience of being intimidated by testing was not mine alone, and was more common than I ever thought. Over and over I talked to devs that knew they weren't testing right but weren't sure how to ask for help or even what questions to ask. What I've found is that everyone's testing switch in their head is different. And the only way to flip it is to just keep testing and asking questions.

So a couple weeks ago I gave a presentation at Scottish Ruby Conf entitled Minitest & Rails: Total BFFs". I tried to cover the changes Rails 4 has made to its testing infrastructure and how you could enable Minitest features like the spec DSL. My hope is that it will help you flip the switch in your head, because you don't have to be as hardcore as Ryan Davis or as visionary as DHH to use these tools.

Also, there are ponies.

Huge thanks to Alan Francis and Paul Wilson for throwing a wonderful conference and for accepting my proposal. Scotland made a pretty big impact on me and I can't wait to return.

Also, I want to explain why I presented the material this way, because it wasn't arbitrary, but that will have to wait for another post.