[TIP] Going From Untested Perl to Tested Python

[Paul Hildebrandt]

Kumar McMillan wrote:
> 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
>   
+1 that is how we've done the same thing.
>   
>> For the Python code that is untested I am using Pythoscope, which is
>> quite nice so far.
>>
>> --
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Noah
>>
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>>     
>
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