set up rspec and cucumber

[bkarlovitz]

I updated the gemfile to include libraries necessary for using rspec and cucumber.

I also set things up by running these commands in the terminal:

rails generate rspec:install
rails generate cucumber:install

Note: I am using the Shoulda gem in the RSpec tests. I updated the Gemfile accordingly.

[hwayne]

Why Shoulda over expect.to syntax?

[bkarlovitz]

The main reason is that I think it's reads nicer.

Here's an example: to check an association with the expect.to syntax, you do something like

describe Standard do
  context 'Associations' do
    it 'has many codes' do
      assc = described_class.reflect_on_association(:codes)
      expect(assc.macro).to eq :has_many
    end
  end
end

When there are lots of associations to check, this can get wordy. I like my tests to provide well-written, easy-to-read documentation. The Shoulda gem lets me write the above as

describe Standard do
  context 'Associations' do
    it { should have_many(:codes) }
  end
end

There are many other cases where the Shoulda matchers are just better English than more basic RSpec.

[bkarlovitz]

Note: I could have also written the Shoulda test as

describe Standard do
  context 'Associations' do
    it { is_expected.to have_many(:codes) }
  end
end

I actually prefer the word "expect" over "should" in tests, but old habits can be hard to break...

[hwayne]

OTOH, 'should' has to monkeypatch all of the objects involved, which can lead to weird errors: http://rspec.info/blog/2012/06/rspecs-new-expectation-syntax/

All of this is pretty academic, though; it's not like everything's gonna go up in flames if we choose one or the other :P

(It will totally go up in flames)

[bkarlovitz]

Off the top of my head, I don't think that Shoulda is calling RSpec's should. But I might be wrong... I'll double-check.