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Summer of Code/2014/Activity Unit Tests (view source)
Revision as of 02:59, 20 March 2014
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* Describe your project in 10-20 sentences. What are you making? Who are you making it for, and why do they need it? What technologies (programming languages, etc.) will you be using?
* Describe your project in 10-20 sentences. What are you making? Who are you making it for, and why do they need it? What technologies (programming languages, etc.) will you be using?
As a first time sugar user you see this spiral of activities on home screen. These are the first expression of sugar. These define your experience. Our activities are awesome, they are great and children love it, but we have to make sure they are free of bugs and are consistent. Here's where Activity Unit Tests comes in. We'd have UI and Functionality tests written for each fructose activity to make sure they are in their proper shape. Secondly, tests are important to improve the development process as well. If we have Activity Unit Tests we'd have a more structured and a more easier review process for patches. The maintainers (and I can say this because I am for some of the activities) will have a better time testing the patches they receive from contributors.
As a first time sugar user you see this spiral of activities on the home screen. These are the first expression of sugar. These define your experience. Our activities are awesome, they are great and children love it, but we have to make sure they are free of bugs and are consistent. Here's where Activity Unit Tests comes in. We'd have UI and Functionality tests written for each fructose activity to make sure they are in their proper shape. Secondly, tests are important to improve the development process as well. If we have Activity Unit Tests we'd have a more structured and a more easier review process for patches. The maintainers (and I can say this because I am, for some of the activities) will have a better time testing the patches they receive from contributors.
The project doesn't end here. As activities are diverse these will serve as good examples for other activities. They'll serve as guides for porting of existing and new activities. I'd also document my findings and write a wiki page on how to write tests for activities (with some examples), so that it can serve as a guide for new activity authors.
The project doesn't end here. As activities are diverse these will serve as good examples for other activities. They'll serve as guides for porting of existing and new activities. I'd also document my findings and write a wiki page on how to write tests for activities (with some examples), so that it can serve as a guide for new activity authors.
I'll be using the python unittest library for writing unit tests. Its easy to write unittest for functions, that's pretty normal. Testing the GUI is a bit complex, the initial strategy is to simulate GUI triggers, like a mouse click, key down event etc. That's it for the technicalities of the project. I'd start working on the simpler activities (Read, Write, Calculate) and work my way towards some relatively complex ones (Etoys and TurtleArt). I figure Etoys and Turtle Art would take the most of the time, so I'd try to complete everything else and start on TurtleArt before the mid-evaluation week.
* I'll be using the unittest library for writing unit tests. Its easy to write unittest for functions, that's pretty standard.
* Testing the GUI is a bit complex, the initial strategy is to simulate GUI triggers, like a mouse click, key down event etc using the uitree module in the sugar3 toolkit.
- The initial GUI tests would be to check if all the buttons in the toolbar exists, and buttons and other elements on the screen/canvas exists as they are expected to. Basic structure of the code would look like:
root = uitree.get_root()
activity = root.find_child(name="HelloWorld Activity",
role_name="frame")
toolbox = activity.find_children()[0] # we can safely assume that toolbar will be the first element in the Activity UITree
stop_button = toolbox.find_child(name="StopButton")
assert (stop_button != None)
activity_button = toolbox.find_child(name="ActivityButton")
assert (activity_button != None)
- The second stage would be to test if the buttons work as expected, we'd get the button reference using the uitree module and use the do_action method to run that particular action.
one_button = activity_node.find_child(name="1",
role_name="push button")
one_button.do_action("click")
# check if 1 is entered in the text box
result = activity.find_child(name="", role_name="text")
assert(result.get_text() == "1")
* Another complex testing domain we need to care about is network dependent ones. For example to test the chat API's UI, we'd have to send in a few messages and check if they are displayed. To invoke the receive method we'd have to actually send in a message from a different chat activity to this one and then test if its working. This isn't a viable approach to test network based triggers. Instead we'd have to mock up the network bits. By that I mean if we have a ChatActivity class that runs the receive method on the "message received" event we'd make a mock class and change the trigger to a manual one. Just run the receive method with some test/dummy data and check if the UI is updated accordingly.
To further explain my approach I'd like to take an example from the Chat Activity. In the chat activity class:
def _setup(self):
self.text_channel = TextChannelWrapper(
self.shared_activity.telepathy_text_chan,
self.shared_activity.telepathy_conn)
self.text_channel.set_received_callback(self._received_cb)
self._alert(_('On-line'), _('Connected'))
self.shared_activity.connect('buddy-joined', self._buddy_joined_cb)
self.shared_activity.connect('buddy-left', self._buddy_left_cb)
self._chat_is_room = True
self.entry.set_sensitive(True)
self.entry.grab_focus()
self._smiley.props.sensitive = True
now this setup method is run at the time of instantiation and it sets the appropriate callback functions to their trigger signals. "self._buddy_joined_cb" is called when a "buddy" joins, self._received_cb is called when we get a message. If I need to test these functions I'd have to generate their signals, which won't be possible without the network. So, another way to test the functions would be to make a mock class where we call self._received_cb with a dummy buddy object and a text message.
Another issue we need to consider about is that the UITree sugar3 module uses accessibility information to find UI elements. This information is there for almost all sugar-toolkit elements, but might not be there for elements used by activities. Some activities including Turtle Art would require adding accessibility information before the appropriate tests can be written.
I'd start working on the simpler activities (Read, Write, Calculate) and work my way towards some relatively complex ones (Platipy and TurtleArt). I figure Turtle Art would take the most of the time, so I'd try to complete everything else and start on TurtleArt before the mid-evaluation week. Etoys is not python and doesn't share any code in the UI, so I think it will be out of this project.
* What is the timeline for development of your project? The Summer of Code work period is from May 19 - August 22; tell us what you will be working on each week. (As the summer goes on, you and your mentor will adjust your schedule, but it's good to have a plan at the beginning so you have an idea of where you're headed.) Note that you should probably plan to have something "working and 90% done" by the midterm evaluation (27 June); the last steps always take longer than you think, and we will consider cancelling projects which are not mostly working by then.
* What is the timeline for development of your project? The Summer of Code work period is from May 19 - August 22; tell us what you will be working on each week. (As the summer goes on, you and your mentor will adjust your schedule, but it's good to have a plan at the beginning so you have an idea of where you're headed.) Note that you should probably plan to have something "working and 90% done" by the midterm evaluation (27 June); the last steps always take longer than you think, and we will consider cancelling projects which are not mostly working by then.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Week / Days !! Work to be Done
! Dates !! Week !! Work to be Done
|-
|-
| Pre - 5th May || Talk to the mentors about the framework we are going to follow. This would include how the tests would be structured, what will be the key elements to target.
| Pre - 5th May || || Talk to the mentors about the framework we are going to follow. This would include how the tests would be structured, what will be the key elements to target.
|-
|-
| 6th May - 20th May || Get the initial testing done on HelloWorld. Show samples to mentors and decide on a framework.
| 6th May - 20th May || || Get the initial testing done on HelloWorld. Show samples to mentors and decide on a framework.
|-
|-
| 20th May - 27th May - (Week 1) || Start writing tests for Read / Write
| 20th May - 27th May || 1 || Start writing tests for Read / Write
|-
|-
| 28th May - 3rd June - (Week 2) || Tests for Log & Terminal.
| 28th May - 3rd June || 2 || Tests for Log & Terminal.
|-
|-
| 3rd June - 10th June - (Week 3) || Tests for Calculate & Chat.
| 3rd June - 10th June || 3 || Tests for Calculate & Chat.
|-
|-
| 10th June - 17th June - (Week 4) || Tests for Image & ImageViewer.
| 10th June - 17th June || 4 || Tests for Image & ImageViewer.
|-
|-
| 17th June - 24th June - (Week 5) || Tests for Browse and start working on the initial tests for TurtleArt
| 17th June - 24th June || 5 || Tests for Browse and start working on the initial tests for TurtleArt
|-
|-
| 24th June - 1st July - (Week 6) || Mid-Term Evaluations - '''Buffer Week'''
| 24th June - 1st July || 6 || Mid-Term Evaluations - Tests for TurtleArt and finish up any remaining work from preceding weeks
|-
|-
| 1st July - 8th July - (Week 7) || Tests for TaBasic, TaBlock, TaCanvas
| 1st July - 8th July || 7 || Tests for TaBasic, TaBlock, TaCanvas
|-
|-
| 8th July - 15th July - (Week 8) || Tests for TaExportLogo, TaExportPython, TaLogo
| 8th July - 15th July || 8 || Tests for TaExportLogo, TaExportPython, TaLogo
|-
|-
| 15th July - 22nd July - (Week 9) || Finish up Turtle Art and Start working on Pippy
| 15th July - 22nd July || 9 || Finish up Turtle Art and Start working on Pippy
|-
|-
| 22nd July - 29th July - (Week 10) || Buffer
| 22nd July - 29th July || 10 || Buffer - Start with Tests for Pippy
|-
|-
| 29th July - 5th August - (Week 11) || Tests for Pippy
| 29th July - 5th August || 11 || Tests for Pippy
|-
|-
| 5th August - 12th August - (Week 12) || Tests for Pippy and Start writing guide on testing on the wiki
| 5th August - 12th August || 12 || Tests for Pippy and Start writing guide on testing on the wiki
|-
|-
| 12th August - 19th August - (Week 13) || More review, some final touches, some final fixing of glitches
| 12th August - 19th August || 13 || Finalizing guide, More review, some final touches
|-
|-
| 19th August - 26th August - (Week 14) || Firm Pencil Down & Final Evaluations
| 19th August - 26th August || 14 || Firm Pencil Down & Final Evaluations
|}
|}
* Convince us, in 5-15 sentences, that you will be able to successfully complete your project in the timeline you have described. This is usually where people describe their past experiences, credentials, prior projects, schoolwork, and that sort of thing, but be creative. Link to prior work or other resources as relevant.
* Convince us, in 5-15 sentences, that you will be able to successfully complete your project in the timeline you have described. This is usually where people describe their past experiences, credentials, prior projects, schoolwork, and that sort of thing, but be creative. Link to prior work or other resources as relevant.
I have plenty of experience and exposure to sugar code. I am not new to any fructose activity and have contributed patches to Calculate, Read, Write, JukeBox, Chat and Browse. I have contributed to over 20 activities, and a plethora of bug fixes. Besides sugar, I have a very active [https://github.com/lionaneesh github] profile, one of my code sharing service website [[http://codepasty.appspot.com]] I built is being used in Vimeo internally for code review. One of my projects got featured on Lifehacker [[http://lifehacker.com/raspod-turns-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-music-server-1510146214]]. I have won GCI twice and have mentored for GSoC once before. I love coding in python, I have around 15 little baby projects on github, and a few shell scripts. Besides, programming. I am an A student in school. I know how to manage my deadlines, and hardly miss any. I am also no new to summer internships, last summer I interned with Activity Central and did some work with Pathagar Book Server and Newpootle. I also have some research experience, Last winter I did a computer vision internship at school. More exhaustive list of my achievements and some recommendations can be found on my Linkedin [[http://linkedin.com/in/aneeshdogra]] profile.
I have plenty of experience and exposure to sugar code. I am not new to any fructose activity and have contributed patches to Calculate, Read, Write, JukeBox, Chat and Browse. I have contributed to over 20 activities, and a plethora of bug fixes. Besides sugar, I have a very active [https://github.com/lionaneesh github] profile, one of my code sharing service website [[http://codepasty.appspot.com]] I built is being used in Vimeo internally for code review. One of my projects got featured on Lifehacker [[http://lifehacker.com/raspod-turns-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-music-server-1510146214]]. I have won GCI twice and have mentored for GSoC once before. I love coding in python, I have around 15 little baby projects on github, and a few shell scripts. Besides, programming. I am an A student in school. I know how to manage my deadlines, and hardly miss any. I am also no new to summer internships, last summer I interned with Activity Central and did some work with Pathagar Book Server and Newpootle. Regarding skill sets mentioned in the prerequisites, I have done a ton of Gtk2->Gtk3 ports as a part of my work for GCI 2012, so I have a fair amount of idea of both Gtk2 and Gtk3. I have worked on a couple of python projects (sugar being one of them) and I think I have a fair amount of python knowledge to take this project forward.
I also have some research experience, Last winter I did a computer vision internship at school. More exhaustive list of my achievements and some recommendations can be found on my Linkedin [[http://linkedin.com/in/aneeshdogra]] profile.
===You and the community===
===You and the community===
Unit testing will give us much better stability and control over changes and it will make it easier to verify other platforms, which is ever more important for us. --[[User:Walter|Walter]] ([[User talk:Walter|talk]]) 16:12, 17 March 2014 (EDT)
Unit testing will give us much better stability and control over changes and it will make it easier to verify other platforms, which is ever more important for us. --[[User:Walter|Walter]] ([[User talk:Walter|talk]]) 16:12, 17 March 2014 (EDT)
Would be a good addition have tests for our main activities, and a good start to include them in more activities. --[[User:Godiard|Godiard]] ([[User talk:Godiard|talk]]) 17:19, 18 March 2014 (EDT)
* What will you do if you get stuck on your project and your mentor isn't around?
* What will you do if you get stuck on your project and your mentor isn't around?
There are plenty - https://git.sugarlabs.org/~lionaneesh
There are plenty - https://git.sugarlabs.org/~lionaneesh
* Describe a great learning experience you had as a child.
* Describe a great learning experience you had as a child.
I got a computer when I was in 2nd grade. My mother won't let me stay up at night, so my father and I used to sneak out of the bedroom and he used to teach me about paint and some other basic utilities. These were the initial days when I really fell in love with computers. We then continued these little sessions and I learned some basic VB scripting from him till I reached the 3rd grade. It was my first impression of computer programming as I know it.
* Is there anything else we should have asked you or anything else that we should know that might make us like you or your project more?
* Is there anything else we should have asked you or anything else that we should know that might make us like you or your project more?
I love sugar :P
Well, I am passionate about sugar and that's why I have contributed to the project for some while now. I share the same vision and would love to continue my work in sugar as a part of GSoC.
[[Category:2014 GSoC applications]]