Anyone Using Executable Requirements?

Question

In my limited experience with them executable requirements (i.e. specifying all requirements as broken automated tests) have proven to be amazingly successful. I've worked on one project in which we placed a heavy emphasis on creating high-level automated tests which exercised all the functionality of a given use case/user story. It was really amazing to me how much easier development became after we began this practice. Implementing features became so much easier after writing a test and we were able to make major architectural changes to the system with all the confidence in the world that everything still worked the same as it did yesterday.

The biggest problem we ran into was that the tools for managing these types of tests aren't very good. We used Fitnesse quite a bit and as a result I now hate the Fit framework.

I'd like to know 1) if anyone else has experience developing using this type of test-driven requirement definition and 2) what tools you all used to facilitate this.

Answer 1

The primary tool I've also used was FitNesse. I've used it at several companies, with very good results. We did have test cases numbering in the many thousands, and we had to be very disciplined in how we organized and used them.

I've tried some other tools, including writing my own DSL (domain-specific language) and using things like RSpec. I really like RSpec, but it is certainly more of a developer tool than a business one.

I know Rick Mugridge has been working on a tool called ZiBreve (http://www.zibreve.com/visit.php?page=index) which is supposed to have stronger refactoring support. I haven't used it myself, but I know Rick and have talked to him several times. I know there was discussion at Agile 2008 on some different ways to deal with the Fitnesse tests in general.

Other than that, I haven't seen a lot of good tools out there. Even tools like WinRunner are fine for QA type tests, but for exploratory testing of requirements by the business, FitNesse or a custom DSL seem to be the ways to go right now.