On this blog when we talk about developer testing we have an ongoing assumption that you're going to use continuous integration in both senses of the phrase: you're going to check-in frequently and you're going to have an automated system like CruiseControl running your tests.

But, perhaps surprisingly, many teams have as much trouble getting the automated system up and running as they do in writing the tests in the first place. The problem is their build. They have a system that is sufficient for assembling their software but that isn't ready for the demands of an agile team, demands like continuous integration, unit tests, functional testing, software metrics, etc.

If you have this problem then you should take a look at the Build Engineer Bootcamp that we have scheduled for Minneapolis in April to coordinate with CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference. These two events should pair very nicely: attend the bootcamp to learn the basics, then attend CITCON to delve into the state of the art.

Hope to see you there!

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I've written up my account of how I spent my time at Elisabeth Hendrickson's Open Source Test Automation Tool Love In. My goal was to have a single script using Watir to drive both Safari and Firefox. With a bit more work I'd like to have the same script driving Celerity. I like the idea of a continuous integration setup where the Celerity tests run first for fast feedback and then the tests run in the browser to ensure compatibility.

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2.8 is now available for download.

Along with a number of bug fixes and enhancements (release notes) there have been a number of significant below the surface changes that should be invisible out of the box but will be a GoodThing:

• Java 5 required to run: this allows us to update the code tomore modern Java and to take advantage of the libraries that are partof Java 5 but not Java 1.5. (Of course you can still compile yourprojects with JDK 1.4.)
• Upgraded Jetty: along with the upgrade we are also exposing theJetty configuration files to allow more extensions to the defaultbehavior.
• Updated to Servlet API 2.5 and JSP API 2.1
• Specify Log4j config file: there is now a command-line switch(-log4jconfig) to specify the Log4j configuration file. Importantly,this can be either in the .properties format or the .xml format. The.xml format is more verbose (no surprise) but also allows moreconfiguration options. From the Log4j tutorial:

"The properties file does not support some advanced configurationoptions like Filters, custom ErrorHandlers and a special type ofappenders, i.e. AsyncAppender. ErrorHandlers defines how errors inlog4j itself are handled, for example badly configured appenders.Filters are more interesting. From the available filters, I think thatthe level range filter is really missing for property files."

In addition to these change there quite a few little hygiene cleanups that made me happy.

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CITCON Amsterdam is October 3rd & 4th and the final day to register is tomorrow, September 19th. We currently have 124 people registered from across Europe, ready to talk all about Continuous Integration, Testing and related topics. Hope to see you there!

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In this blog entry I talk about how simple changes can produce dramatically different results. Developer testing is one of the practices, one of those little things, that add up to excellence:

"… there is no secret; there is only the doing of all those little things, each one done correctly, time and again, until excellence in every detail becomes a firmly ingrained habit, an ordinary part of one’s everyday life."

Read more.

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I've enjoyed my time blogging here at Developer Testing, but I've started a new blog with a slightly broader scope. My Thought Nursery will no doubt deal quite a bit with similar issues issues — developers, testing, continuous integration and the like — but is also likely to get into other areas of interest and particularly ideas under development. Hope to see you there!

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CruiseControl 2.7.2 is available for download.

Lots of bug fixes, lots of changes to the Dashboard.

New plugins:

• Cincom Smalltalk VisualWorks Store Source Control
• Git Source Control & Bootstrapper
• Http Publisher
• Mercurial Source Control & Bootstrapper
• SVNLabelIncrementer

See detailed release notes here.

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The other software metric to come out of Agitar, CRAP is simply too much fun. So David Kao (a former Agitar intern) and I decided to take the levity down a notch.* The result?

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