Re: beginning and testing

Hello Bill,

Apache::Test is great.

What kind of testing are you looking to do?  Apache::Test is for testing
your code (unit tests) and JMeter is for load testing your application /
infrastructure (in my organization we classify this under UAT which the
developers don't do).  I agree with Mark that with the technology we have
today, manual testing causes more problems than it solves... while setting
up times may be a bigger initial time investment, automated tests really do
save time.

Have you looked at any of the Perl Web Frameworks?  Catalyst
<http://www.catalystframework.org/>, Dancer <http://www.perldancer.org/>,
and Mojolicious <http://mojolicio.us/> all use Plack middleware (which
interfaces nicely with mod_perl or any webserver; Mojo can use
Server::Hypnotoad <http://mojolicio.us/perldoc/Mojo/Server/Hypnotoad>, a
non-blocking web server, then uses Apache as a reverse proxy to serve your
web page.  The advantages and disadvantages of which I think are outside
the scope of this thread), and they come with their own testing suits,
Catalyst::Test
<http://search.cpan.org/~jjnapiork/Catalyst-Runtime-5.90075/lib/Catalyst/Test.pm>
 Dancer::Test
<http://search.cpan.org/~yanick/Dancer-1.3129/lib/Dancer/Test.pm> and
Test::Mojo <http://mojolicio.us/perldoc/Test/Mojo> which are great for unit
testing.  These days my testing stack is Test::More
<http://search.cpan.org/~exodist/Test-Simple-1.001006/lib/Test/More.pm>,
Test::Class
<http://search.cpan.org/~ether/Test-Class-0.47/lib/Test/Class.pm> and
Test::Mojo, I recommend Test::Class to anyone who's writing unit tests for
more than a few hundred lines of code.

I have been a long time user/fan of mod_perl, some of my longest running
apps are running on mod_perl right now.  But for new projects I've turned
to using a web framework as it allows us to focus on the app and not worry
about the boiler plate.  But that's me, there are plenty of valid reasons
NOT to use a web framework.

Good luck!

Best Regards,
Jon A


On Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 11:42 AM, Mark Hedges <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Patton, Billy [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2014 6:24 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: beginning and testing
>
> I'm rewriting/moving an app that hasn't been touched in over 5 years.  The
> original developers have since left the company.
> It's all written in CGI/OOPerl.
> It seems as though the original developers applied the OOW-AHH , look at
> what I can do, instead of KISS.
> Simply put they needed a skateboard but built a space shuttle.
>
> So I'm task with taking this Hydra/Medusa cross and converting it to
> KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid)
> So I'm going to us mod_perl.  I will be able to use some of their logic
> and code.
>
> At my previous job we had a mantra "design for test"
>
> So from the very first file I create I want to be able to test each step
> as I proceed.
> I've used, very simply, the .t files for test my library and my apps that
> run from the command line but never some thing from the web.
>
> In the past I've used an Oracle product that does web testing, but that's
> rather expensive.
> So have no doubts that Apache and mod_perl have an enormous testing suite
> available for testing my perl and the web site it creates.
> IE : Apache:TestRun, Apache::TestRunPerl
> When I do
> apropos Apache | grep -i test
> I get 14 Apache::Test* modules and one Bundle::ApacheTest module.
>
> So I'm looking for a start point.
> There is a lot of information, too much for me to digest.
> My web app will consist of forms with h-links to another page and some
> drop downs.
> A few "enter text" widgets.
>
> I'm beginning to believe that testing in Apache is a completely difference
> world than testing from the command line, as it should be.
>
> I'm just not sure where to start.
> Any recommendations would help.
> -------------------------------------
>
> I have found Apache::Test extremely useful for testing web applications.
> Don't let anyone tell you to run manual tests, that is a recipe for
> confusion and error as you try to modify code later.
>
> A good place to start is the test structure for mod_perl itself, but all
> the bells and whistles they use are probably more than you need.
>
> Also, I use Module::Build instead of ExtUtils::MakeMaker.  Follow the
> instructions for a Module::Build Build.PL file, but make your builder
> object an Apache::TestMB or subclass of that.  (It is a subclass of
> Module::Build.)
>
> Then you want to start with the files t/conf/extra.last.conf.in and
> t/conf/modperl_extra.pl.  extra.last.conf.in contains Apache directives
> and VirtualHost sections that you want to run.  modperl_extra.pl will be
> executed by Apache startup.
>
> When you do `./Build test`, it will generate t/TEST, start up Apache2 with
> your settings on a localhost port, then you can use LWP and start
> implementing tests.  I sometimes add a testing environment variable which
> causes my apache handlers to add extra results in an X- header to check in
> the test script.
>
> You can also write t/TEST.PL, which gets added to the generated t/TEST
> script.  It has to run:
>
>   use Apache::TestRunPerl ();
>   Apache::TestRunPerl->new->run(@ARGV);
>
> ... at the end, since this does not seem to get added to the generated
> t/TEST script when t/TEST.PL is used.
>
> HTH.
>
> Mark
>