I have a bunch of LectroTest news. LectroTest, as you may know, is a specification-based, automatic testing system for Perl. It may look like Haskell’s QuickCheck, but it tastes like sweet, sweet Perl.
LectroTest 0.3500 was released
This version adds automatic tools for recording and playing back failures. Using them, you can automatically build regression-testing suites and incorporate them into your testing plan. All it takes is one new line of code:
use Test::LectroTest
regressions => "regressions.txt"; # <-- that's it!See the docs on CPAN for more.
My thanks to Steffen Müller, who suggested the feature and is already using it in cool stuff such as Number::WithError.
Slides from “Testing Tips with LectroTest” are now online
You can get the slides from my talk to the Pittsburgh Perl Mongers on 2006-06-14 here: Talk / Testing Tips with LectroTest. In the talk, I covered some of the newer LectroTest features, such as regression testing and Test::LectroTest::Compat, which lets you mix LectroTest with other Perl testing modules.
The LectroTest Emporium opens!
I have very little artistic ability. Nevertheless, alarming numbers of people seem to love the fiercely metallic mascot I created for LectroTest.
At the last Perl Mongers meeting, for example, people actually told me (somewhat sternly) I should put the adorable LectroTest Robot on t-shirts. I am now delighted to announce that I have taken their advice:
Introducing: The LectroTest Emporium
Some important points:
- Yes, it’s a CafePress store
- I’m not making any money on these things
- I’m using direct printing, not heat-transfer printing, so the Robot won’t crack, feel stiff, or suffer from a yellowish transfer background. (CafePress has a comparison of the methods if you want the full details.)
Some items I have moral reservations about offering:
- LectroTest Robot Teddy Bear - Who would be so reckless as to allow something as fierce and as powerful as the LectroTest Robot to come into direct contact with a defenseless, cuddly teddy bear?
- LectroTest Robot Baby Bib - Actually, this is a great idea: your infant and the Robot exist in a symbiotic relationship. When your baby gets food all over the bib, the Robot will consume it (using a electrochemical process not entirely dissimilar to our human concept of “digestion”). Thus is the baby cleaned and the Robot fueled. It’s win-win.
- LectroTest Robot Dog T-Shirt - I am fairly certain that the immense weight of the Robot would easily crush any smaller animal. This product strikes me as a very bad idea.
The T-shirts, on the other hand, are the robot’s meow. Check out the full collection at The LectroTest Emporium.