rspec users - Jul 2009 - explanation of "describe" vs "context"...

Hey everyone,

This is a noob question. I''m not grasping the difference between
"describe" and "context" in my spec file. As an example,
what''s the
difference with this...

describe Game do
     context "starting up" do
it "should send a welcome message" do
        @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
Mastermind!")
        @game.start(%w[r g y c])
      end



And this....

describe Game do
     describe "starting up" do
it "should send a welcome message" do
        @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
Mastermind!")
        @game.start(%w[r g y c])
      end


Is this just preference, or are the serious differences?

On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 3:29 PM, Chris
Sund<chris at silhouettesolutions.net> wrote:
> Hey everyone,
>
> This is a noob question. I''m not grasping the difference between
> "describe" and "context" in my spec file. As an
example, what''s the
> difference with this...
>
> describe Game do
> ? ? context "starting up" do
> it "should send a welcome message" do
> ? ? ? ?@messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> Mastermind!")
> ? ? ? ?@game.start(%w[r g y c])
> ? ? ?end
>
>
>
> And this....
>
> describe Game do
> ? ? describe "starting up" do
> it "should send a welcome message" do
> ? ? ? ?@messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> Mastermind!")
> ? ? ? ?@game.start(%w[r g y c])
> ? ? ?end
>
>
> Is this just preference, or are the serious differences?
>
There is no technical difference. context is aliased to describe.
However, you can use them in combination to write more expressive
specs.

For example:

describe Game do

   describe "#join_game" do
      context "when the game has not started"d o
         it "should allow a player to join"
     end

      context "when the game has started" do
         it "should not allow another player to join"
      end
  end

end




>
>
> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-users at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
>


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Chris Sund wrote:
> Hey everyone,
>
> This is a noob question. I''m not grasping the difference between
> "describe" and "context" in my spec file. As an
example, what''s the
> difference with this...
>
> describe Game do
>      context "starting up" do
> it "should send a welcome message" do
>         @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> Mastermind!")
>         @game.start(%w[r g y c])
>       end
>
>
>
> And this....
>
> describe Game do
>      describe "starting up" do
> it "should send a welcome message" do
>         @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> Mastermind!")
>         @game.start(%w[r g y c])
>       end
>
>
> Is this just preference, or are the serious differences?
>
>
>   
They are aliased, so there is no functional difference:

http://gist.github.com/ded8be0839e77c30afe1

Scott

> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-users at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
>

Thanks, that helps me understand better.

On Jul 12, 1:48?pm, Scott Taylor <sc... at railsnewbie.com>
wrote:
> Chris Sund wrote:
> > Hey everyone,
>
> > This is a noob question. I''m not grasping the difference
between
> > "describe" and "context" in my spec file. As an
example, what''s the
> > difference with this...
>
> > describe Game do
> > ? ? ?context "starting up" do
> > it "should send a welcome message" do
> > ? ? ? ? @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> > Mastermind!")
> > ? ? ? ? @game.start(%w[r g y c])
> > ? ? ? end
>
> > And this....
>
> > describe Game do
> > ? ? ?describe "starting up" do
> > it "should send a welcome message" do
> > ? ? ? ? @messenger.should_receive(:puts).with("Welcome to
> > Mastermind!")
> > ? ? ? ? @game.start(%w[r g y c])
> > ? ? ? end
>
> > Is this just preference, or are the serious differences?
>
> They are aliased, so there is no functional difference:
>
> http://gist.github.com/ded8be0839e77c30afe1
>
> Scott
>
> > _______________________________________________
> > rspec-users mailing list
> > rspec-us... at rubyforge.org
> >http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
>
> _______________________________________________
> rspec-users mailing list
> rspec-us... at
rubyforge.orghttp://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users