Re: [TFUI] Re: UI Guidelines and Acceptance Testing

On Jul 22, 2004, at 10:03 PM, Phlip wrote:
> How easily can you write a test that creates a window,
> assigns its esthetic properties, tests the esthetic
> properties, triggers events, detects their results,
> and destroys the window, all without displaying the
> window?

Easily.

> How easily could a total newbie, reading the Cocoa
> tutorials, spontaneously produce such a test without
> excess research? (I'm aware only superior humans use
> Cocoa - play along with me.)

Easily.

> I'm not saying perfectly silent tests must be better.
> I'm saying the newbie tutorials help lead the newbies
> into the form painters quickly. They similarily don't
> teach event-driven programming well, or teach layered
> architectures well.

You don't need to bother with event-driven programming in Cocoa.  There 
is an event loop, but generally it's at a lower level of abstraction 
than most people work with.  Controls will directly invoke actions in 
controller objects, you generally don't have to worry about it.

Most people writing Cocoa applications use Interface Builder -- the 
"form painter" as you call it -- to build most of their application's 
interface.  That's because it's really a system for wiring up, 
archiving, and unarchiving fully wired-up object graphs.  It's not a 
code generator, it saves you from writing reams of boring code just to 
put up windows, connect controls to controllers, etc.

The Cocoa tutorials lead people to Interface Builder quickly because 
Interface Builder is what professional Cocoa developers use to lay out 
their applications' interfaces.  It's not a newbie tool that gets 
outgrown.  You can of course write code to generate interfaces.  
Interface Builder isn't doing anything that you can't do in your own 
code.

   -- Chris

-- 
Chris Hanson <[email protected]>
http://www.livejournal.com/users/chanson/



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/nhFolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

To unsubscribe, email:
TestFirstUserInterfaces-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org
 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TestFirstUserInterfaces/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    TestFirstUserInterfaces-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/