Suggest modification to this talk

Title

Description

by: Justin Searls, Cory Flanigan

As practitioners who comprise the Ruby software community, we have made great strides to establish testing as a best practice. We have done so in order to build quality into our processes and systems.

It seems, however, that we have a blind spot when it comes to one of the most important parts of our applications: rich user interaction written in JavaScript.

It used to be the case that we could blame this disregard for JavaScript tests on a lack of good testing tools, or having very limited amounts of JS in our applications.

Now more than ever before, rich user interfaces are prevalent, and testing tools have made great strides; specifically with regard to Jasmine.

We will briefly discuss reasons why JavaScript tests are critical, and easier than ever before.

The purpose of our presentation is to provide fellow software developers with actionable knowledge of how to:

* Add Jasmine to your a

Help us caption & translate this video!

http://amara.org/v/GZC2/

Date

Summarized using AI?

If this talk's summary was generated by AI, please check this box. A "Summarized using AI" badge will be displayed in the summary tab to indicate that the summary was generated using AI.

Show "Summarized using AI" badge on summary page

Summary

Markdown supported

The video "Start using Jasmine. Write better JavaScript. Profit" presented by Justin Searls and Cory Flanigan at Rocky Mountain Ruby 2011 discusses the critical need for testing JavaScript, a practice often overlooked by developers. The speakers emphasize the similarities in craftsmanship between Ruby and JavaScript, advocating for a rigorous approach to JavaScript code development as the complexity of web applications increases.

Key points discussed in the presentation include:
- **Importance of Testing JavaScript**: The speakers highlight that many developers do not test their JavaScript due to a lack of expectation from their peers and the common excuse that JavaScript is just 'glue code'. They stress that quality user experiences cannot be achieved without testing JavaScript due to its central role in web applications.
- **The Shift in Software Development**: As more applications demand complex JavaScript functionalities, the need for better testing practices and tools like Jasmine has become critical.
- **Craftsmanship in Coding**: The presenters argue that the level of care applied to Ruby code should equally apply to JavaScript. They discuss issues with writing untestable anonymous code which often results in a 'big ball of mud.'
- **Examples of Refactoring**: The presenters share anecdotes about their experiences with messy JavaScript code, and demonstrate how to structure code using Jasmine to improve readability and maintainability.
- **Testing Tools**: They introduce Jasmine testing framework as a useful tool for creating structured and clear tests for JavaScript code, showing how it resembles RSpec in Ruby, making it more approachable for Ruby developers.
- **Commitment to JavaScript**: Flanigan and Searls urge developers to start testing their JavaScript to improve overall code quality, while also sharing resources such as the Jasmine Rails gem to help integrate Jasmine testing into Rails projects.

In conclusion, the key takeaway from the presentation is that developers should not shy away from writing tests for JavaScript. By applying testing practices akin to those used in Ruby, they can enhance the quality of user interactions in their applications. The speakers encourage a community effort to overcome barriers in JavaScript testing and offer to assist fellow developers in this endeavor.

Cancel