Comments on: Don’t unit-test GUI

By: Gin margarita via unit testing UIs – Ross Henderson

Gin margarita via unit testing UIs – Ross Henderson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:37:01 +0000

[...] http://www.hans-eric.com/2007/12/20/dont-unit-test-gui/ [...]

By: www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » Did I say don’t unit-test GUIs?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:48:20 +0000

[...] life funny? Two weeks ago I stated my opinion that unit-testing graphical user interfaces isn’t worth the trouble. Now I find myself doing it, writing unit-tests for GUI [...]

By: » Daily Bits - December 25, 2007 Alvin Ashcraft’s Daily Geek Bits: Daily links plus random ramblings about development, gadgets and raising rugrats.

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:49:21 +0000

[...] Don’t Unit Test GUI (via Arjan’s World) [...]

By: Grayger

Grayger — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:07:46 +0000

GUI is unit-testable (automatically tested)! I test my Swing code with UISpec4J and I am satisfied with it. I admit testing GUI still has some limitations, but the limitations are decreasing due to tools’ support.

By: BlogReader

BlogReader — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:58:54 +0000

[ and compared to my programming interfaces, my guis tend to change relatively often. ]

How do you make your changes? Compile, redeploy, and then go to that screen? Unit tests could save you this time consuming way of developing by running a small test right there.

And if it breaks often, good It might save you from shooting yourself in the foot.

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:06:16 +0000

I believe a view in not important as is, it should be a state representation of the application.

Amen to that!

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:05:12 +0000

I think you are right, but I suggest a different solution. I believe a lot of the GUI-related problems could be addressed by changing the design, pulling the presentation logic out of the GUI layer.

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:57:34 +0000

That’s exactly my point of view too. Make the GUI dumb. Maybe one should think of the GUI as composed of a View layer (dumb components, no need for unit-testing) and an Application Logic layer (which can be tested).

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:50:06 +0000

Peace brother!
I might also become a GUI tester one day, but as today I’m not convinced it’s to my benefit.

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:43:42 +0000

You’re definitely right about business applications and GUI bugs, that’s my experience too. But then again, a lot of the presentation logic, like enable/disable of fields and interrelated dropdowns as you mention, could be built into the business logic layer (maybe application logic layer is a better name). The GUI would then be a mere displayer of state through an observer pattern, and an invoker of change. That’s how I like to build my user interfaces.