Software testing
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There are lots of benefits to writing tests that pass.
Benefits include :
- Learning! New developers can learn a ton from writing a number of passing tests in the area they are interested in. This is one of the quickest ways to learn about a pre-existing and mature codebase. You have zero worries about breaking things. This is diving in the shallow end.
- Latent bug uncovering. For every ten tests you write expecting them to pass, one will probably fail. Or at least uncover unexpected behavior that can be improved.
- Refactoring. If we had 10,000 passing tests (assuming universal test coverage), large scale refactoring of the entire codebase would be quick and reliable. It would enable refactoring on a scale currently unimaginable. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a benefit this would be.
- Developer turnover. Again if we had 10,000 passing tests (assuming universal test coverage), it would encourage new developers. This is because the fear of breaking something is removed. It is a total safety net. It also would give existing developers peace of mind when a new developer is touching one of the dark parts of FlightGear that no current developer understands (there are plenty of those) .
- Test suite infrastructure. The more passing tests written, the better the test suite infrastructure will become. We can already do a lot. But the addition of more passing tests will help other test writers.
- Memory checking. Running a single test through Valgrind is amazing. Running fgfs through Valgrind is close to impossible. Passing tests can be written to catch memory leaks!
- Low code quality and standards. This is related to the learning point. As long as a test compiles on all OSes without warning, it passes, and Valgrind gives you an ok, it is good enough. You don't need to be a C++ expert to dive into this shallow end of the pool.
So for new developers, just jump in and write any test! It does not need to catch a bug. Do whatever how ever you wish! Just dive in this shallow end and you'll see that the water is not cold [1]
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