* Randy J. Ray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2008-04-07 02:00]: > Right now, I plan on: > > * XML validity against a DTD > * XML validity against a XML schema > * XML validity against a RelaxNG schema > * YAML validity > * JSON validity > * Content testing via some combo of Test::Deep and/or built-in > capabilities from Test::JSON et al > > This is based mostly from Ovid's post, but also from the > realization that for these. most of the desired kinds of tests > are the same: Does it parse? Is it valid against the spec? Is > the content what I was expecting (allowing for acceptable > variations in textual format)?
I’m not sure it makes so much sense to put those all together. YAML and JSON map directly to Perl data structures, so a “schema” test for both of them would be identical and would amount to something like Data::FormValidator, Params::Validate and friends. XML, on the other hand, has a much more complex data model that does not at all map directly to a Perl data structure. XML is at its best when it comes to documents, not data structures. So I’m not sure it makes a whole lot of sense to mix it all up. I also don’t think it makes a lot of sense to treat JSON and YAML as particularly distinct, or that it makes a lot of sense to pay any attention to their on-disk form as opposed to the resultant in-memory data structure. The only question that’s identical across the board is “does this parse at all,” which in the case of XML means “is this well- formed” but **not** “is this valid according to that schema or DTD or grammar.” Beyond that, the questions diverge: in the case of YAML and JSON, you want Test::Deep/Data::FormValidator/Params::Validate/something along those lines to operate directly on the data structure. In the case of XML, you want to validate against some schema. The shortcuts and conveniences you’ll want in a Test:: module differ between those cases. > Right now, I'm leaning towards Test::Markup. That might wind up > the YAML guys a bit, though (which is actually a > quite-acceptable bonus to me), possibly the JSON camp as well. It’s definitely the wrong name. By that token, the output of Data::Dumper is markup. I, uh, don’t think that’s right. > So I am also considering Test::Serialization, since all of > these amount to forms of serialization. Even (some would say > *especially*) XML. Indeed, XML is a serialisation format… but for a very different kind of thing than what YAML and JSON both are serialisation formats: DOM here, Perl data structure there. Regards, -- Aristotle Pagaltzis // <http://plasmasturm.org/>
