Jason, I can add the write-up in
https://github.com/apache/beam/pull/2077#issuecomment-282273273 to the testing
section <https://beam.apache.org/contribute/testing/> as part of the
upcoming doc updates in light of "RunnableOnService" becoming "NeedsRunner".

-Stas


On Tue, Mar 28, 2017 at 12:38 AM Robert Bradshaw
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 1:16 PM, Eugene Kirpichov <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Kenn, this breakdown makes a lot of sense. We should probably
> > clarify this in the documentation of both of these annotations. Though
> now
> > that I look at the current docs, they seem clear enough, but perhaps they
> > can be phrased stronger.
> >
> > To summarize:
> > - ValidatesRunner tests are for testing a runner. They should be created
> > mostly by core Beam SDK authors, when introducing a new Beam feature etc.
> > It may even make sense to make this annotation private to the beam sdk
> core
> > module.
> >
>
> +1, but see below.
>
>
> > - NeedsRunner tests are for testing a transform. That's what all external
> > users should be using, authors of IOs, etc. It's unspecified which runner
> > will be used, but in practice usually it'll be direct runner.
> >
>
> My one issue with NeedsRunner is that as one moves further from core, the
> public API of Beam libraries tend to be suites of PTransforms (including
> IOs) and almost every strong test of the public API (which is where most
> tests should live) has at least one test that becomes NeedsRunner. It seems
> annotations should be used to mark the exception, not the norm.
>
> Perhaps this also stems from my point of view that the Direct Runner is in
> many ways part of the SDK as the reference implementation and test runner
> (the SDK minus any runner isn't very useful) and so there's little or no
> need to distinguish tests that require a runner from those that don't
> (especially the further you get from core, where you should be able to
> assume you have a runner if you have the ability to construct pipelines and
> run PAssert).
>
> - The current situation (use of both of these annotations) does not quite
> > reflect that, and should be fixed.
> > - There might be a use case for testing a transform against all runners,
> > and we don't have an agreed-upon solution about how to do that:
> > ValidatesRunner technically accomplishes this, but it's logically wrong
> to
> > use it in this capacity.
> >
>
> I think such tests do validate runners insofar as the @ValidatesRunner
> suites are not comprehensive.
>
> In the ideal world, one could simply assume the primitive transforms are
> perfectly tested with 100% coverage of all relevant permutations of
> features, and tests of composite transforms can assume correct(*)
> implementation of primitives and only test their assembly on a single
> runner. In practice, our tests are not comprehensive, and these
> higher-level tests form a much larger suite of additional tests biased
> towards how the primitive are actually composed and used. Somewhat like a
> second line of defense. As such, its useful to be able to run this larger
> suite on a variety of runners, even if it's theoretically redundant.
>
> (There's also the sticky issue that if a runner overrides a composite
> transform there's suddenly value in running that transform's tests against
> that runner. It's unclear where that information should live (seems to
> belong to the runner, but it should just reference (and possibly augment)
> the existing suite).)
>
> (*) Even the notion of correctness is difficult here, as one might be
> relying of hidden assumptions that don't hold on all runners because they
> are not part of the spec. This is the case for the wild-and-crazy test
> runner that goes out of its way to violate assumptions.
>
> On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 12:50 PM Kenneth Knowles <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Without claiming that this is the final set of categories or that they
> > are
> > > used correctly right now, here is what I think they mean:
> > >
> > >  - ValidatesRunner tests should be tests of the runner itself,
> generally
> > > that it implements a primitive correctly
> > >  - NeedsRunner tests should be tests of the PTransform/pipeline,
> assuming
> > > the runner is correct
> > >
> > > Notably, to the extent the assumption of runner correctness holds, this
> > > implies that it is OK to run NeedsRunner tests with just the direct
> > runner.
> > >
> > > Pragmatically, in the Java SDK & IOs, this is not the current
> breakdown.
> > >
> > >  - In the Java SDK the NeedsRunner category is probably used more to
> flag
> > > "run this with just the direct runner" than to express the semantic
> > intent.
> > > That isn't so bad; it is very close to the right usage.
> > >
> > >  - There are IOs that had RunnableOnService tests which are now
> > > ValidatesRunner tests. While the ability to run an IO does validate a
> > > runner, this is really an integration test of the IO. If they are to be
> > run
> > > with just the direct runner they don't need any annotation, because the
> > IO
> > > can take a test-scoped dependency on the direct runner. So it mostly
> > makes
> > > sense to tag those tests for which it is profitable to run against all
> > > runners.
> > >
> > > I think the question of IO ITs with the intent to run across runners is
> > > currently under design discussion and I would defer to other people on
> > the
> > > best way to do that. It could be a new category, or it could be a
> > different
> > > design pattern entirely.
> > >
> > > Kenn
> > >
> > > On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 11:55 AM, Eugene Kirpichov <
> > > [email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Kenn - can you also remind for everybody, what is the difference
> > between
> > > > @NeedsRunner and @ValidatesRunner, and when should one use one or the
> > > > other? I always find myself confused about this especially in code
> > > reviews.
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 11:32 AM Kenneth Knowles
> > <[email protected]
> > > >
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hi all,
> > > > >
> > > > > I just merged the rename from RunnableOnService to ValidatesRunner
> in
> > > the
> > > > > Java codebase (Python was already there)
> > > > > https://github.com/apache/beam/pull/2157.
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm sure there will be stragglers throughout our docs, etc, so
> please
> > > do
> > > > > help me catch them and fix them. And start learning to say
> > > > > "ValidatesRunner" in conversation :-)
> > > > >
> > > > > Kenn
> > > > >
> > > > > On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 1:01 PM, Lukasz Cwik
> > <[email protected]
> > > >
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > The default is a crashing runner which throws an exception if its
> > > > > executed.
> > > > > > This makes SDK core/examples/... not depend on any implemented
> > > runners.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 12:37 PM, Robert Bradshaw <
> > > > > > [email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > +1 to ValidatesRunner. I'd be nice if it were (optionally?)
> > > > > > > parameterized by which feature it validates.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > @NeedsRunner is odd, as using a runner is the most natural way
> to
> > > > > > > write many (most) tests, but an annotation should be used to
> mark
> > > the
> > > > > > > exception, not the norm. (I'd just assume a runner is available
> > for
> > > > > > > all tests, e.g. CoreTests depends on DirectRunner depends on
> > Core).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 10:14 AM, Mark Liu
> > > > <[email protected]
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > > +1 ValidatesRunner
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 8:40 AM, Kenneth Knowles
> > > > > > <[email protected]
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >> Nice. I like ValidatesRunner.
> > > > > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> On Nov 10, 2016 03:39, "Amit Sela" <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > > > > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > How about @ValidatesRunner ?
> > > > > > > >> > Seems to complement @NeedsRunner as well.
> > > > > > > >> >
> > > > > > > >> > On Thu, Nov 10, 2016 at 9:47 AM Aljoscha Krettek <
> > > > > > [email protected]
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > wrote:
> > > > > > > >> >
> > > > > > > >> > > +1
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > > > >> > > What I would really like to see is automatic derivation
> of
> > > the
> > > > > > > >> capability
> > > > > > > >> > > matrix from an extended Runner Test Suite. (As outlined
> in
> > > > > Thomas'
> > > > > > > >> doc).
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > > > >> > > On Wed, 9 Nov 2016 at 21:42 Kenneth Knowles
> > > > > > <[email protected]
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > wrote:
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > Huge +1 to this.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > The two categories I care most about are:
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > 1. Tests that need a runner, but are testing the other
> > > > "thing
> > > > > > > under
> > > > > > > >> > > test";
> > > > > > > >> > > > today this is NeedsRunner.
> > > > > > > >> > > > 2. Tests that are intended to test a runner; today
> this
> > is
> > > > > > > >> > > > RunnableOnService.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > Actually the lines are not necessary clear between
> them,
> > > > but I
> > > > > > > think
> > > > > > > >> we
> > > > > > > >> > > can
> > > > > > > >> > > > make good choices, like we already do.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > The idea of two categories with a common superclass
> > > actually
> > > > > > has a
> > > > > > > >> > > pitfall:
> > > > > > > >> > > > what if a test is put in the superclass category, when
> > it
> > > > does
> > > > > > not
> > > > > > > >> > have a
> > > > > > > >> > > > clear meaning? And also, I don't have any good ideas
> for
> > > > > names.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > So I think just replacing RunnableOnService with
> > > RunnerTest
> > > > to
> > > > > > > make
> > > > > > > >> > clear
> > > > > > > >> > > > that it is there just to test the runner is good. We
> > might
> > > > > also
> > > > > > > want
> > > > > > > >> > > > RunnerIntegrationTest extends NeedsRunner to use in
> the
> > IO
> > > > > > > modules.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > See also Thomas's doc on capability matrix testing*
> > which
> > > is
> > > > > > > aimed at
> > > > > > > >> > > case
> > > > > > > >> > > > 2. Those tests should all have a category from the
> doc,
> > > or a
> > > > > new
> > > > > > > one
> > > > > > > >> > > added.
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > *
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fICxq32t9yWn9qXhmT07xpclHeHX2
> > > > > > > >> > VlUyVtpi2WzzGM/edit
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > Kenn
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > On Wed, Nov 9, 2016 at 12:20 PM, Jean-Baptiste Onofré
> <
> > > > > > > >> [email protected]
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > > Hi Mark,
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > > Generally speaking, I agree.
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > > As RunnableOnService extends NeedsRunner,
> > > @TestsWithRunner
> > > > > or
> > > > > > > >> > > > @RunOnRunner
> > > > > > > >> > > > > sound clearer.
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > > Regards
> > > > > > > >> > > > > JB
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > > On 11/09/2016 09:00 PM, Mark Liu wrote:
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> Hi all,
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> I'm working on building RunnableOnService in Python
> > > SDK.
> > > > > > After
> > > > > > > >> > having
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> discussions with folks, "RunnableOnService" looks
> > like
> > > > not
> > > > > a
> > > > > > > very
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> intuitive
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> name for those unit tests that require runners and
> > > build
> > > > > > > >> lightweight
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> pipelines to test specific components. Especially,
> > they
> > > > > don't
> > > > > > > have
> > > > > > > >> > to
> > > > > > > >> > > > run
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> on a service.
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> So I want to raise this idea to the community and
> see
> > > if
> > > > > > anyone
> > > > > > > >> have
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> similar thoughts. Maybe we can come up with a name
> > this
> > > > is
> > > > > > > tight
> > > > > > > >> to
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> runner.
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> Currently, I have two names in my head:
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> - TestsWithRunners
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> - RunnerExecutable
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> Any thoughts?
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> Thanks,
> > > > > > > >> > > > >> Mark
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > >>
> > > > > > > >> > > > > --
> > > > > > > >> > > > > Jean-Baptiste Onofré
> > > > > > > >> > > > > [email protected]
> > > > > > > >> > > > > http://blog.nanthrax.net
> > > > > > > >> > > > > Talend - http://www.talend.com
> > > > > > > >> > > > >
> > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > > > > > >> > >
> > > > > > > >> >
> > > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

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