On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 9:31 PM, David Chelimsky <dchelim...@gmail.com> wrote: > > As for internals, my goal for the Cucumber features is to provide an > executable set of documentation for end users to understand how to use > RSpec. Not so much to expose internals, which I think is better addressed in > the RSpec code examples themselves. Make sense?
I'm sorry David; it might be because I haven't seen examples, but conceptually I don't think this quite gels. Some issues I have with the idea: 1.) It's trying to achieve too many goals at once. Application verification and documentation are not the same problem. If you try to do both with the exact same files, I believe both will suffer. 2.) It creates an unnecessary knowledge dependency. People who are brand new to RSpec cannot be expected to have proficiency with Cucumber just to read the docs. I understand that they don't *have* to execute the features, but if you don't know Cucumber at all, trying to wrap your head around the feature syntax will distract from the part that's important (understanding RSpec). 3.) The knowledge transfer would be inefficient, unclear, and incomplete. Too many concepts cannot be effectively communicated in a "Given/When/Then" structure. How do you explain the history and philosophy of BDD in that syntax? How do you explain the role of "red, green, refactor" patterns within iterative RSpec development? --Presuming you've figured out how to phrase that knowledge in a Cucumber feature, how do you *execute* it? And at that point what have you gained? Cucumber is great for many things. I don't believe it would be a great documentation tool at a "primer" level. If anyone can show that it can not only be done, but be done *well* in a way that will make inherent sense to newbies and speed up their learning of RSpec, I'd stand corrected and support this wholeheartedly. Otherwise, I'd suggest separating concerns, and not try to integrate and educate at the same time. ---Having said that, I'm interested in contributing to the (prose, not Cucumber) documentation effort. -- Have Fun, Steve Eley (sfe...@gmail.com) ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine http://www.escapepod.org _______________________________________________ rspec-users mailing list rspec-users@rubyforge.org http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
