141 lines
6.5 KiB
YAML
141 lines
6.5 KiB
YAML
uuid:
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- value: a699f864-3453-4f53-92d5-b394bfaebef7
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langcode:
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- value: en
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target_uuid: 8bde1f2f-eef9-4f2d-ae9c-96921f8193d7
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revision_timestamp:
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- value: '2025-05-11T09:00:32+00:00'
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target_uuid: b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849
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uid:
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target_uuid: b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849
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title:
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- value: |
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How not to break 36,000 websites
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created:
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- value: '2023-09-16T00:00:00+00:00'
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changed:
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- value: '2025-05-11T09:00:32+00:00'
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promote:
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revision_translation_affected:
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- value: true
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path:
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- alias: /daily/2023/09/16/how-not-to-break-36-000-websites
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langcode: en
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body:
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- value: |
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<p>I've maintained the Override Node Options module for Drupal since early 2012.</p>
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<p>I've maintained the Drupal 7 version and written new versions for Drupal 8 onwards.</p>
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<p>At the time of writing, the module is used on at least 36,244 active Drupal websites.</p>
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<p>I don't want to break 36,000 websites, and automated testing is my way of avoiding that.</p>
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<p>I have three examples of how automated testing helped me when working on this module.</p>
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<h2 id="upgrading-to-drupal-8">Upgrading to Drupal 8</h2>
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<p>When writing the initial Drupal 8 version of the module, as I started re-writing a feature, the first thing I did was recreate the tests from the Drupal 7 version.</p>
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<p>Then, I followed a test-driven development approach to get the test passing using the Drupal 7 code for reference.</p>
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<p>When the whole test suite was in place and passing, I knew there was feature parity between the two versions.</p>
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<h2 id="resolving-a-large-merge-conflict">Resolving a large merge conflict</h2>
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<p>I was reviewing a feature request that had been open for some time, which included a large patch file with the code changes to implement it.</p>
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<p>However, the patch no longer applied to the code, which caused various merge conflicts.</p>
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<p>There were no additional tests within the patch, but I was able to use the existing tests to ensure the original functionality worked once the merge conflicts were resolved and there were no regressions caused by committing the patch.</p>
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<p>I did later add tests for the new functionality, but without the original test suite, I would have likely not have accepted the patch and not committed the feature.</p>
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<h2 id="refactoring-the-code">Refactoring the code</h2>
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<p>A few years ago, a colleague and I wanted to refactor the module code to make it more maintainable and easier to work on.</p>
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<p>Then, the module was used on around 30,000 websites, so this could have been risky.</p>
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<p>However, we had the test suite to ensure the functionality still worked and that our refactors were successful.</p>
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<p>If we broke something and introduced a regression, a test would fail, and we could fix it.</p>
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<p>Following the release containing the refactored code, there were no reported issues or regressions from the community.</p>
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<h2 id="here%27s-the-thing">Here's the thing</h2>
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<p>Automated testing is about providing confidence.</p>
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<p>Confidence the software works as expected and is releasable, either to clients for custom software or consumers of open-source software.</p>
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<p>With a passing test suite, you can add and change code with confidence and without worrying about breaking it.</p>
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format: full_html
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processed: |
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<p>I've maintained the Override Node Options module for Drupal since early 2012.</p>
|
|
|
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<p>I've maintained the Drupal 7 version and written new versions for Drupal 8 onwards.</p>
|
|
|
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<p>At the time of writing, the module is used on at least 36,244 active Drupal websites.</p>
|
|
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<p>I don't want to break 36,000 websites, and automated testing is my way of avoiding that.</p>
|
|
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<p>I have three examples of how automated testing helped me when working on this module.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="upgrading-to-drupal-8">Upgrading to Drupal 8</h2>
|
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<p>When writing the initial Drupal 8 version of the module, as I started re-writing a feature, the first thing I did was recreate the tests from the Drupal 7 version.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Then, I followed a test-driven development approach to get the test passing using the Drupal 7 code for reference.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>When the whole test suite was in place and passing, I knew there was feature parity between the two versions.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="resolving-a-large-merge-conflict">Resolving a large merge conflict</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>I was reviewing a feature request that had been open for some time, which included a large patch file with the code changes to implement it.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, the patch no longer applied to the code, which caused various merge conflicts.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>There were no additional tests within the patch, but I was able to use the existing tests to ensure the original functionality worked once the merge conflicts were resolved and there were no regressions caused by committing the patch.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>I did later add tests for the new functionality, but without the original test suite, I would have likely not have accepted the patch and not committed the feature.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="refactoring-the-code">Refactoring the code</h2>
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<p>A few years ago, a colleague and I wanted to refactor the module code to make it more maintainable and easier to work on.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Then, the module was used on around 30,000 websites, so this could have been risky.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, we had the test suite to ensure the functionality still worked and that our refactors were successful.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If we broke something and introduced a regression, a test would fail, and we could fix it.</p>
|
|
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<p>Following the release containing the refactored code, there were no reported issues or regressions from the community.</p>
|
|
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<h2 id="here%27s-the-thing">Here's the thing</h2>
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<p>Automated testing is about providing confidence.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Confidence the software works as expected and is releasable, either to clients for custom software or consumers of open-source software.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>With a passing test suite, you can add and change code with confidence and without worrying about breaking it.</p>
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summary: null
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field_daily_email_cta: { }
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