Jasmine-Node and Rewire, Part 2: Making the test complete

In the previous post I introduced the concept of using Rewire with Jasmine-Node to simplify Node.js unit testing. Rewire added a __set__ and a __get__ function to the module which let us grab a function in the module, and test it directly. We could test the function's output by controlling the objects that the function worked with, and checking them upon function completion. We didn't need to manipulate any internals of the function so our testing is still honoring the "Black Box" concept of unit testing. The idea is that the unit test only cares about what the testee can take in, return, and manipulate outside itself. How that operation is performed is not important to the unit test.

There was one test we didn't look at which I want to discuss now.

Jasmine-Node and Rewire, Part 1

Node.js development can be a lot of fun. Unit testing can be fun too. Unit testing Node can be very much not fun. Unit testing Nodejs modules often feels like trying to build a neutered integration test with mocks, nocks, and intercepts. Since Node is a web server whose functionality revolves around responding to http requests, the most natural testing method would be to trip those URLs and check the response. However, that ends up being more of a test of the middleware, and doesn't allow for testing the function directly. If you want to ignore the http calls, the most rational way to test the functions inside the module would be to export them. Once exported the tests can easily be run against the exported functions. The problem with exposing all the functions via export means functionality that should be private is no longer private.

Using Nock and Jasmine-Node to Target Your Server's HTTP Requests

I am continuing along my path of "test driven development" discovery and am finding it fraught with challenges. All my progress has shown me how crucial TDD is for success, and I am constantly reminded of how effective it is. The latest challenge I had was to test the outgoing http call of my node server. I was testing a module that sent an http request in a private method. It was crucial that my testing confirm the outgoing URL. This is not as straight forward as it sounds.

Using --Configure in Jasmine-Node Command Line

I recently had the honor of one of my minor changes to the Jasmine-Node project being merged into the project master branch. I added a new option to the command line used to invoke the Jasmine-Node tests. Using a --configure option followed by two additional entries will add a variable to the process.env in the invoked node process. Adding this feature allowed me to move my tests with my node server through it's path from testing to production.

Using CSS Media Queries as a Data Transport

Sorry for the long delay. I recently changed jobs and with family I had no time to get this out. I am going to try to return to every other week articles again.

My recent work involved creating web destinations based on both dynamic content, dynamic form, and responsive design with no preset dimensions. The pages would have to adjust to fit multiple sizes set at compile time. Each size could have its own specific properties and shared properties. The one thing I did know was that I could rely on any screen specific properties to have an identifier appended to the property name to make it unique. I needed a way to find the correct identifier for the current screen size. To make this work we decided to use CSS to store it. The solution worked for all modern browsers. Internet Explorer 8 received an alternate css and workflow since it doesn't support the MediaQueryList object.

Tips For Using JsDoc on Enyo Kinds, and Other Factory Pattern Types

My journey to better practices has led me through the forest of unit testing to a new destination. I have reached that dark, scary marsh that many in the IT world dread. The very mention of its name sends grown men to tears and panic. I find myself at the Marsh of Documentaion!