How to Implement Ruby on Rails Testing Practices To Build a Successful Web Application

How to Implement Ruby on Rails Testing Practices To Build a Successful Web Application

www.bacancytechnology.com

Being an Agile full-stack Ruby on Rails development company, we would recommend every other developer, entrepreneur, and start-up enthusiast to consider RoR for your upcoming project. You sure want to know about our love affair with RoR. Across the globe, 487654 websites are using Ruby on Rails, and the credit of such massive popularity goes to RoR’s convention over configuration approach.

Easy to learn, developer-friendly, reliable, secure, fast development, costconvenient, etc. are just a few of the reasons that make Ruby on Rails the best web development technology. That is why I would suggest you read our guide for CTOs and tech-leaders.

[Source:Â Google Images] Kent Beck, the creator of Extreme Programming, quotes the above lines that mention that testing your application determines the quality of your product. I would agree beyond any doubts.

Ruby is a permissive language that enables you to build a quick proof of concept; however, it can be anything but perfect if gone wrong. To overcome such troubles, testing your Ruby on Rails application is the right thing to do.

The RoR community has built the famous Test Driven Development TDD approach, which encourages developers to write tests before writing the program code.

Say, for example, you surely want your application to last forever, I mean yes, with constant updates and maintenance.

To achieve such targets, you must ensure that your application has proven all the tests right. Check out this fantastic video

by Agile Academy that would give you an insight into the Test Driven Development (TDD). https://youtu.be/uGaNkTahrIw

However, Ruby on Rails developers does not always stick to the Test Driven Development (TDD) and give trials on the code first and see if they can find an optimal solution. As we begin testing Ruby on Rails applications, let me tell you that there are two types of tests, all tests can classify beneath.

Integration Tests: Ardently, small units of the program, in the form of independent functions, come together to become the parts of one application. The integration test is to verify whether all these separate parts of our RoR application can go smoothly without any trouble.

Unit Tests: The unit test justifies if small codes of functions do their duties rightly to work out perfectly on their own. Because when such units of code combine, they form the entire application.

The above tweet by the famous blogger Dasun Hegoda gives a detailed table of difference between unit testing and integration testing. I have jotted the essential points here.

The Problem with TDD

Though the Test Driven Development is very popular, it is not the sanest. Some problems come with this approach.

Developers fail to test the actual functionality of your application; rather, they are confined just the test cases. By this strategy, the final product deviates from what you had thought to be because it confines the test cases, not the result.

To solve this issue, another concept that comes along with the TDD is Behavior Driven Development (BDD) and Behavior Driven Tests (BDT).

Behavior Driven Development BDD This method is like an extension of the TestDriven Development, and it works in short loops of feedback after applying TDD to each feature added. So just like TDD, BDD is also a test-first approach where developers write the Behavior Driven Tests (BDT) in simple English language or domain-specific language.

All the stakeholders verify the BDT before executing the development of the project, which, in our case, is the Ruby on Rails project.

BDD in Rails Rails were the first-ever framework that integrated with a testing framework. By default, as you create a new Rails application, it opens with the testing unit scene. There are some remarkable frameworks for implementing testing in your Ruby on Rails application, and we will discuss two important ones in this post: Rspec and Cucumber.

Rspec Rspec is a unit testing framework for Ruby on Rails which focuses on the application’s behavior instead of its functioning. The tests that programmers write in rails application on the Rspec framework are known as specs and are easy to understand.

Installation of Rspec The above commands will install a new ‘spec’ directory to your Ruby on Rails project.

Next, you can execute your rspec test by the command: bundle exec rspec Cucumber The Cucumber framework has a format where it reads plain-test scenarios and automates interactions with code development.

Installing Cucumber

Tests written in cucumber are divided into features which are further sub-divided into sequential steps (scenarios).

As we have the basics of Rspec and Cucumber, you might be pondering how to build and test your Ruby on Rails project using the BDD. The BDD Cycle in Rails Now it is time for us to learn the Business Driven Development in Rails application.

BDD is an Outside-In testing approach. The programmers write the views first and then move ahead towards modules. Here is the step-by-step process for you.

[Image Source:Â BDD Cycle in Rails] Step 1: As you have a great project idea, first start with writing a Cucumber scenario. You should not think much about how you will implement the idea, just understand the problem first and think about the user interface.

Step 2: Run your cucumber test and analyze how it fails. Initially, you might not define all the steps and keep them pending.

Step 3: Define your first pending spec and run the test. It will fail, but you should relax because it’s going the right way.

Step 4: Use the Rspec red-green-refactor cycle and test-drive the Rails view. At this stage, you will realize how many instance variables, controllers, and controller-actions, you are going to need in your project.

Step 5: Take care of your instance variables and actions assigned while you test the controller through the Rspec cycle. Here you will get to know what your custom objects should be like while developing your Rails project.

Step 6: Repeat the above test for your objects, and this way, you get to find your models. In case of a new feature, you may create a new model along with the corresponding database migration.

Step 7: Finally, as you have tested all your objects and methods through the Rspec red-greenrefactor, and all your specs have passed the tests, you are ready to run the Cucumber scenario.

Here was the cycle for your first scenario. You have to repeat the cycle for all your scenarios, and see if anything remains left to refactor once you are sure that you have completed the process, set back for reviews.

If you work in a team, take reviews from your fellow-mates, or consider feedback from the product-manager or the client.

Epilogue In this blog, we saw both the test-driven development and the behavior-driven development, though the later was built to overcome the barriers of the prior one, we should understand that both have pros and cons. TDD will support the quality of your written code, whereas BDD supports your system’s behavior. To find a balance between both these methods, hire Ruby on Rails developer from the globally renowned Ruby on Rails development company.

Thank you