3 ms·

Clients writing Cucumber stories? (Ruby)

15 points by jkreeftmeijer 16y ago

devmonk 16y ago
Steak does sound good. It's a lot harder to look at than cucumber, but it is self-contained and simple. http://github.com/cavalle/steak http://github.com/cavalle/steak Talking about steak makes me hungry.
- swombat 16y ago
  For a ruby programmer, I dare say that ruby code is easier to look at than English pseudo-code...
  - devmonk 16y ago
    I dev in Ruby also, but the features, stories, and scenarios in Cucumber can read fairly well, even if the step definitions make it tougher than it would appear to be. Agreed that Steak is simpler overall. Cucumber could have used the time spent supporting LOLZ on something more useful: OH HAI: STUFFING MISHUN: CUCUMBR I CAN HAZ IN TEH BEGINNIN 3 CUCUMBRZ WEN I EAT 2 CUCUMBRZ DEN I HAZ 2 CUCUMBERZ IN MAH BELLY AN IN TEH END 1 CUCUMBRZ KTHXBAI step implementations: ICANHAZ /^IN TEH BEGINNIN (d+) CUCUMBRZ$/ do |n| @basket = Basket.new(n.to_i) end WEN /^I EAT (d+) CUCUMBRZ$/ do |n| @belly = Belly.new @belly.eat(@basket.take(n.to_i)) end DEN /^I HAZ (d+) CUCUMBERZ IN MAH BELLY$/ do |n| @belly.cukes.should == n.to_i end DEN /^IN TEH END (d+) CUCUMBRZ KTHXBAI$/ do |n| @basket.cukes.should == n.to_i end (from http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2009/cucumber-introduction/ http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2009/cucumber-introduction/ )
cartab 16y ago
Another great article Jeff.
cavalle 16y ago
I like the workflow Jeff describes in his article. They keep writing user stories with their clients. I imagine that those stories are written in plain english but in a brief, informal, easy-to-understand style. Much more useful than Cucumber features as communication token, I think. In my experience, Cucumber features are less useful as user stories than regular user stories and harder to maintain as acceptance tests than regular acceptance tests. Some people may see value in turning user stories into acceptance tests and keep them in sync during all the lifetime of a project. But 80% of value is just in turning every user story into an acceptance test. Jeff's workflow does exactly that, but without the additional effort that maintaining Cucumber features involves.

15 points by jkreeftmeijer 16y ago

Steak does sound good. It's a lot harder to look at than cucumber, but it is self-contained and simple. http://github.com/cavalle/steak http://github.com/cavalle/steak Talking about steak makes me hungry.

swombat 16y ago
For a ruby programmer, I dare say that ruby code is easier to look at than English pseudo-code...
- devmonk 16y ago
  I dev in Ruby also, but the features, stories, and scenarios in Cucumber can read fairly well, even if the step definitions make it tougher than it would appear to be. Agreed that Steak is simpler overall. Cucumber could have used the time spent supporting LOLZ on something more useful: OH HAI: STUFFING MISHUN: CUCUMBR I CAN HAZ IN TEH BEGINNIN 3 CUCUMBRZ WEN I EAT 2 CUCUMBRZ DEN I HAZ 2 CUCUMBERZ IN MAH BELLY AN IN TEH END 1 CUCUMBRZ KTHXBAI step implementations: ICANHAZ /^IN TEH BEGINNIN (d+) CUCUMBRZ$/ do |n| @basket = Basket.new(n.to_i) end WEN /^I EAT (d+) CUCUMBRZ$/ do |n| @belly = Belly.new @belly.eat(@basket.take(n.to_i)) end DEN /^I HAZ (d+) CUCUMBERZ IN MAH BELLY$/ do |n| @belly.cukes.should == n.to_i end DEN /^IN TEH END (d+) CUCUMBRZ KTHXBAI$/ do |n| @basket.cukes.should == n.to_i end (from http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2009/cucumber-introduction/ http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2009/cucumber-introduction/ )

cartab 16y ago

Another great article Jeff.

cavalle 16y ago

I like the workflow Jeff describes in his article. They keep writing user stories with their clients. I imagine that those stories are written in plain english but in a brief, informal, easy-to-understand style. Much more useful than Cucumber features as communication token, I think. In my experience, Cucumber features are less useful as user stories than regular user stories and harder to maintain as acceptance tests than regular acceptance tests. Some people may see value in turning user stories into acceptance tests and keep them in sync during all the lifetime of a project. But 80% of value is just in turning every user story into an acceptance test. Jeff's workflow does exactly that, but without the additional effort that maintaining Cucumber features involves.