newbie question: what does/can nUnit do? what are its limitations? when to use/not use it? 2008-05-17

[gerry_lowry-416-992-1615]

Hello ... although I've been programming since 1967 and am dedicated to quality through design and thorough testing,
automated testing is relatively new to me.

Over time, I suspect I'll get a better understanding of nUnit ... but I'm curious as to what nUnit can and can not do.
Also, because I do not yet understanding nUnit's architecture, I'm not sure when to use or not use nUnit.

Example Scenario
-------------------
Web site testing -------------- validating the user interface

[login screen] =====> [menu] <===> [actions] ======> log out

Manually, I'd launch the login screen, make deliberate errors in user ID and password
until satisfied that the authentication routines, then use several different valid user ID/password
pairs to ensure that legitimate users can log on and off.

I'd manually test every menu choice multiple times. From every menu choice, I test the related actions
until I was satisfied that I'd achieved an appropriate level of robustness. At this point,
the end-users would be asked to try it out and to purposely attempt to break it.

With so much visual interaction required to use applications like the generic one describe above, can nUnit handle them?

Also, can nUnit handle them without one having to write more code than it took to write the application in the first place?

What does/can nUnit do?

When are nUnit's limitations?

When should one use nUnit?

When should one NOT use nUnit?


Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise and advice.


Regards,
Gerry

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[Charlie Poole]

Hi Gerry,

I see nobody has answered you. I think there are two reasons:

1) This is a really general question. I suggest you read some
introductory material about nunit first - either on our web site
or by googling for articles - and then ask about the things that
need more explanation for you.

2) This is the list for folks concerned with the development
of NUnit. The general user list is nunit-users at sourceforge.

Charlie

-----Original Message-----
Behalf Of gerry_lowry-416-992-1615
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 9:09 PM
Subject: [nunit-developer] newbie question: what does/can
nUnit do? what areits limitations? when to use/not use it? 2008-05-17
Hello ... although I've been programming since 1967 and am
dedicated to quality through design and thorough testing,
automated testing is relatively new to me.
Over time, I suspect I'll get a better understanding of nUnit
... but I'm curious as to what nUnit can and can not do.
Also, because I do not yet understanding nUnit's
architecture, I'm not sure when to use or not use nUnit.
Example Scenario
-------------------
Web site testing -------------- validating the user interface
[login screen] =====> [menu] <===> [actions] ======> log out
Manually, I'd launch the login screen, make deliberate errors
in user ID and password until satisfied that the
authentication routines, then use several different valid
user ID/password pairs to ensure that legitimate users can
log on and off.
I'd manually test every menu choice multiple times. From
every menu choice, I test the related actions until I was
satisfied that I'd achieved an appropriate level of
robustness. At this point, the end-users would be asked to
try it out and to purposely attempt to break it.
With so much visual interaction required to use applications
like the generic one describe above, can nUnit handle them?
Also, can nUnit handle them without one having to write more
code than it took to write the application in the first place?
What does/can nUnit do?
When are nUnit's limitations?
When should one use nUnit?
When should one NOT use nUnit?
Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise and advice.
Regards,
Gerry
--------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all
challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
_______________________________________________
nunit-developer mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/nunit-developer

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[gerry_lowry-416-992-1615]

Hello Charlie,

Actually, I originally posted this on the nunit-***@lists.sourceforge.net list (2008 April 20 Sunday 09:19 Eastern Time)

When no one replied, I posted again to this list (nunit-***@lists.sourceforge.net). (May 17)

Two gentlemen were kind enough to reply off-list to my repost.

One wrote "NUnit is designed to test the results of your activities, not perform the activities themselves.
What you seem to describe is not necessarily unit testing, but functional testing.
For that, I would recommend using WatiN or Selenium. ".

The other wrote "I would not use NUnit for GUI testing, at least not right away.
Try Selenium or one of the similar tools for that. NUnit is more suited for unit testing.".

I did read material on your web site and likely also, as is my habit, use Google. It is because I could not
discover anything with sufficient clarity that I posted my newbie question. While such material likely
exists, unfortunately I was not successful at locating it. Today, I may have been a bit more successful.
If so, the credit goes in part to the two gentlemen who kindly replied off-list.

At http://www.nunit.org/index.php it is simply written "NUnit is a unit-testing framework for all .Net languages".

imho, I would like to see something more like:

When to use NUnit
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas placerat eros ultrices diam.
Pellentesque quis massa sed erat sodales faucibus. Cras euismod porta ante.

When NOT to use NUnit
Maecenas consequat. Donec et massa. Duis eget pede. Duis ac nisi. Nam egestas sapien id velit.
Quisque cursus, nibh sed tincidunt pharetra, lacus ante imperdiet eros, et imperdiet justo neque a mi.

Related tools
Nam at nisi non massa pharetra scelerisque. Fusce accumsan elit ut quam.
Duis mi erat, tempor vitae, rutrum quis, egestas iaculis, risus.

WatiN http://watin.sourceforge.net/

Selenium http://selenium.openqa.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium_%28software%29

Reviews, et cetera
http://adamesterline.com/2007/04/23/watin-watir-and-selenium-reviewed/
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/CategoryView.aspx?category=NUnit&page=4

Of course, the Lorem ipsum needs to be replaced with something more meaningful.
Likewise, because I am still quite ignorant with regards to NUnit/WatiN/WatiR/Selenium
and possibly similar products, I am not professing to be the one knowledgeable enough to write
the above material. Until I digest it, it's all Lorem ipsum to me. http://www.lipsum.com/

I can see the benefit of using automated testing. I've been testing manually for 40 years.
Often I walk the code in my head before running it live. That catches many errors.
Stating the obvious, automated testing seems especially good at determing what got broken
when something else got added or changed.

Thank you, Charlie for be kind enough to share your thoughts with me. Likewise,
thank you for noticing that no one had answered on list.

Regards,
Gerry


----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Poole" <***@pooleconsulting.com>
To: "'gerry_lowry-416-992-1615'" <***@abilitybusinesscomputerservices.com>; <nunit-***@lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: [nunit-developer] newbie question: what does/can nUnit do? whatareits limitations? when to use/not use it? 2008-05-17


Hi Gerry,

I see nobody has answered you. I think there are two reasons:

1) This is a really general question. I suggest you read some
introductory material about nunit first - either on our web site
or by googling for articles - and then ask about the things that
need more explanation for you.

2) This is the list for folks concerned with the development
of NUnit. The general user list is nunit-users at sourceforge.

Charlie

-----Original Message-----
Behalf Of gerry_lowry-416-992-1615
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 9:09 PM
Subject: [nunit-developer] newbie question: what does/can
nUnit do? what areits limitations? when to use/not use it? 2008-05-17
Hello ... although I've been programming since 1967 and am
dedicated to quality through design and thorough testing,
automated testing is relatively new to me.
Over time, I suspect I'll get a better understanding of nUnit
... but I'm curious as to what nUnit can and can not do.
Also, because I do not yet understanding nUnit's
architecture, I'm not sure when to use or not use nUnit.
Example Scenario
-------------------
Web site testing -------------- validating the user interface
[login screen] =====> [menu] <===> [actions] ======> log out
Manually, I'd launch the login screen, make deliberate errors
in user ID and password until satisfied that the
authentication routines, then use several different valid
user ID/password pairs to ensure that legitimate users can
log on and off.
I'd manually test every menu choice multiple times. From
every menu choice, I test the related actions until I was
satisfied that I'd achieved an appropriate level of
robustness. At this point, the end-users would be asked to
try it out and to purposely attempt to break it.
With so much visual interaction required to use applications
like the generic one describe above, can nUnit handle them?
Also, can nUnit handle them without one having to write more
code than it took to write the application in the first place?
What does/can nUnit do?
When are nUnit's limitations?
When should one use nUnit?
When should one NOT use nUnit?
Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise and advice.
Regards,
Gerry
--------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all
challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
_______________________________________________
nunit-developer mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/nunit-developer

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
_______________________________________________
nunit-developer mailing list
nunit-***@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/nunit-developer

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/