[rfc] add a TestFactory class or concept

[Robert Collins]

On Thu, 2009-08-06 at 18:12 +1000, Martin Pool wrote:
> Lots of tests are run on some specific values; for instance they make
> a branch and then do some operations on it.
> 
> I was talking to jml the other day and he said that Launchpad have a
> cleaner separation of all of this setup into a TestFactory class
> (iirc) - if you want a Person to test, you would always get that from
> the factory rather than putting arbitrary example data into the class.

I don't really like the sound of this. I was looking at a test just the
other day that has its specific data elsewhere, and its really hard to
read. I'd rather focus on making it very pithy to put specific data
in-line.

I like the sound of improving the test suite (of course):).

One thing to remember is that Launchpad has a history of having a huge
massive database of test data, and I think a global factory of things is
an improvement for them - but we don't have that handicap :).

-Rob
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