[TIP] Going From Untested Perl to Tested Python

[Kumar McMillan]

On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 5:16 PM, Noah Gift <noah.gift at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am starting to convert a rather large code base from untested Perl
> to tested Python.  One idea I had was to write tests in Python, that
> tests the Perl code.  Once I have the core functionality worked out,
> the next step is to rewrite it in Python, and finish off unit testing.
>  Has anyone else done something like this, and if so do you have
> recommendations?

Hi Noah.
I did exactly this once for a set of command line scripts (migrated
untested perl scripts to python scripts, implementing all new scripts
in python-land).  I attempted to create tests for all the legacy
scripts so I could simply swap them out with a python one and have the
tests still pass.  I spent a lot of time doing crazy DB setup and file
layout setup so that the tests could execute the perl scripts in a
subprocess.  I would not recommend this approach for a few reasons.
First, it is a huge pain to go through all the setup needed for such a
high level "black box" testing approach.  Secondly, the legacy script
tests were hard to maintain since they relied so much on a database.
Yes, they did need to be maintained because the perl was never fully
ported to Python (there was just too much).

I would suggest an approach like this.  Assume the legacy perl code
just works and don't touch it.  Make a plan for how much you can
realistically migrate to Python and begin all new work in Python.
Start the new Python project with tests and don't worry about testing
the legacy Perl code.  If you find yourself in a situation where you
need to fix a bug in the legacy perl code consider rewriting it in
Python first and if that's not feasible then maybe that's a good
enough excuse to create tests for perl code before you fix the bug.
Otherwise, in my experience, it wasn't worth the effort to retrofit
the perl code with tests.

YMMV of course :)

Kumar

>
> For the Python code that is untested I am using Pythoscope, which is
> quite nice so far.
>
> --
> Cheers,
>
> Noah
>
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