Noel Rappin Writes Here

I’m pleased and more than a little surprised to be announcing the existence of Rails Test Prescriptions 2, (which may not be the final title).

You have questions. Even if you don’t, I have answers.

Can you give the news in the style of a movie poster tag line?

Sure.

Coming in 2014. It’s time to get your prescription… refilled.

Rails Test Prescriptions 2: The re-prescriptioning.

When did this happen?

Really, just last week. I got an email asking if I was interested (Spoiler Alert: I was.), and we went very quickly through to contract.

What will it cover?

It’s a little up in the air still, but broadly, we’ve got this:

• Updates to the big tools. Rails 4, RSpec 3, minitest replacing TestUnit.
• Changes to the ecosystem, so updates to a bunch of other tools, including FactoryGirl, Cucumber, Capybara
• Some deprecations — there are some tools discussed that are basically not anymore.
• New tools. I think the biggest class of tool not discussed in the original RTP is quick startup tools like Spork and Zeus. I’d like to cover continuous integration options, too, we’ll see if I can make that fit.

Over and above all of that, of course, is the fact that the discussion over good testing practice has changed. There’s a lot more talk about maintaining large test suites, writing faster tests, and using tests to drive better Rails application design. I’m planning to talk about that aspect of testing as well.

I am really open to feedback and ideas about what to include and what can be safely removed (any Rails performance testing fans in the audience?)

Timeframe?

Good question. I’d bet at least spring for the first beta. Ask me again in a few weeks.

Are you insane?

I assume you are referring to the fact that I have other writing projects in process.

Yeah, that. Well?

I’ve got it under control.

Yeah, I’m gonna need more than that, writer guy

Okay, let’s take them one at a time.

Okay. Master Space and Time with JavaScript: Ember

Well, the nice folk at Ember central were nice enough to release Ember 1.0, making my plan considerably more concrete than it might otherwise be.

I’m currently working on the draft-complete release of the Ember book, which I expect to release this week. Code up to date with Ember 1.0 and Ember Data 1.0 beta. Info on the Ember inspector, and more stuff on components and promises in Ember routing. Maybe another goodie or two if I have time. That should take me roughly to 115 - 120 pages, a complete draft, and it will trigger a price increase. If I release the book this week, the price increase will come about 9/16. You can still buy Master Space and Time With JavaScript with the handy-dandy purchase link.

The Ember team has announced plans to do new point releases every six weeks. My expectation is that through the end of 2013, I’ll fix errors, and come back toward the end of the year to see if there is anything that needs updating or adding. Probably the same through at least the beginning of 2014.

Okay. What about Trust-Driven Development?

That’s obviously a little more problematic. But I’m really happy with the book, it’s fun to write, and I’m going to keep up with it.

The initial release will still come in September, hoping for this week, but that one looks optimistic. Next week is a better bet. That release also triggers a price increase. And of course, you can still buy Trust-Driven Development at the fabulous purchase link.

After that, I’m not sure. One thing about this book, though, is that it is kind of a nice palette cleaner to break up writing just about code all the time, so I’m actually looking forward to having that as a project during breaks in the Rails Test Prescription 2 process, such as technical reviews and so on.

So maybe I am insane after all.

Anyway, I’m very much looking forward to revisiting Rails Test Prescriptions, fixing all the things I got wrong last time, and making all new mistakes. Hope you like it.