CASA Commit Tests

Status: INCOMPLETE DRAFT

Definition

Commit tests are automated tests used to verify small pieces of code work correctly before being integrated with other code.

Purpose

Requirements

• CASA Commit tests shall meet all requirements for CASA Automated Tests.
• CASA Developers shall control which tests are run as commit tests.

Reccomendations

• Commit tests should run quickly.
  • Quickly is defined as what CASA developers find acceptable.
    • Note: An industry convention is to run unit tests as commit tests, and require all commit tests for a "subsystem" to run in less than 5 minutes on a mid-range developer computer. In this context casacore, code, and asap are subsystems.
    • Note: existing CASA tests implemented as described in UNIT TESTS OF CASA TASKS do not fit conventional definitions of unit tests. As implemented, these fit the conventional definitions of Acceptance tests.
• CASA developers should update their copy of the subsystem they are working in and ensure it builds and passes commit tests in that subsystem before committing their changes.

Work Required

• Add CMake support for identifying commit tests and adding them to the "make test" target.
• Add project support for conventional definitions of unit tests.
• Assist developers in identifying existing tests as commit tests.

Notes

• casacore and asap developers already control which tests run from the "make test" target in their build systems.

-- ScottRankin - 2011-12-30