dave astels

Dave Chelimsky and I spent an evening this week ripping out the expectation logic of rSpec and rebuilding it based on his ShouldHelper ideas. The result is sweeeeet!

For example:

    def place_south_facing_obelisk
        @board.place 'G O A5 S'
        piece = @board.at 'A5'
        piece.obelisk?.should_be_true
        piece.facing?('S').should_be_true
    end

is now:

    def place_south_facing_obelisk
        @board.place 'G O A5 S'
        piece = @board.at 'A5'
        piece.should.be.obelisk
        piece.should.be.facing 'S'
    end

Now if we could just get rid of those damn periods. Oh.. wait.. why don’t we just use Smalltalk and be done with it.

;)

You can get sSpec for Ambrai Smalltalk from the Dark Dog Software site. Reference and tutorial documents will be available shortly, as will versions for other Smalltalk dialects. Full sUnit tests are provided.

Very soon I’ll be posting RC1 of v1.0 of sSpec, currently only directly supported for Ambrai smalltalk.

Watch for an announcement regarding it’s general availability, as well as more general information on my latest thoughts on BDD.

For everyone playing with rSpec on OS X, grab the latest Gem of rSpec then go to Dark Dog Software to get the runner app.

Let us know what you think.

If anyone reading this is playing with Ambrai Smalltalk and would like to test-drive my new Behaviour-Driven Development framework for Smalltalk, let me know!

dastels@daveastels.com

I just read Renne’s latest blog post and thought.. hey.. me too! FYI, Renne & I worked together on a Thoughtworks project in late 2004.

So Renne, one foodie to another.. I salute you.. what a capitol idea to share culinary experiences. And very timely for me as I’m going through a resurgence of my kitchen activity. The main reason for this was the availability of digital cable at our new house. More specifically the Food Channel. Even more specifically, Chef Michael Smith, Canadian Chef extrodinare. Watching Michael Smith cook reminds me of Jamie Oliver.. sheer, unbridled foodie passion. Passion about food, about eating, about cooking.

So here I am, dusting off cookbooks, stocking my shelves and (taking a cue from chef Smith) putting everything on open shelves in mason jars.

Our new house is, as I said, well suited to cooking. We have a unremarkable kitchen.. alley style, casual dining area off one end, and a doorway t the hall in the other end. Ample countertop & cupboards, 30″ range, etc, etc. The neat bit is that the next room is another kitchen. There’s no range there (yet) but there is a double sink, vegetable sink & another full size sink, plus loads of open shelving. We have the chest freezer set up in there. I’m not finished yet… the room after that is another pantry of sorts… open shelves, lower drawers & cabinets, and a concrete countertop.

So everything’s come together to launch us into a world of new culinary adventure. I said this was a “resurgence”… I’ve been cooking since I was 18.. learning much the way I learned programming.. by watching others (starting with Steven Yan on “Wok With Yan”), reading, and experimenting.

If possible I suggest you check out Chef Michael Smith, his shows, and cookbooks:

• Michael Smith
• Chef at Large
• Chef at Home

So what success stories do I have? A couple… Ratatouille (just eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and herbs), Tuna with Pinot Noir Leeks and Ginger Mint Salsa, although I used asparagus instead of leeks since it looked good.

Tonight I made a cucumber/red-onion/mint salad and “Zucchini, tomatoes, and Oregano”. For the salad, just thinly slice a red onion & an English Cuke. Tear up a bunch of mint leaves and toss it all with an asian style dressing (I made one up on the fly with soy sauce, chili paste, lime juice, 5 spice powder, and a generous amount of sesame oil).

These are from the “Chef at Home” cookbook, I’m assuming all appear on the show at some point, and some at on the foodtv.ca site.

You know… there are times I think I might have pursued the wrong career!

Dave