R. Clayton (rclayton@monmouth.edu)
(no date)
Sorry to bother you again.
Not at all.
I created a few files with every test case that I could think of (one
good.xml and a bunch of bad.xmls). Is it ok if I send these to other people
in class?
In principle, sure, but there are a few worrisome issues. First, people tend
to misinterpret what test cases are for; in particular, they feel that if they
pass some set of test cases, their code is correct and they're done. These
people are quite surprised when their code fails because of other test case I
use; they feel I'm cheating because I'm using test cases I don't give them.
Second, there's the fairness problem; that is, making sure that everybody
benefits from your largesse. This isn't as important as it would be because
there's no curve in this class, but it still would be nice to improve my
averages in this class.
In one sense, its part of collaboration -
True, but it's not much of a collaboration: you give and everybody else takes.
Exchanging test cases is a better; at least we can pretend it's roughly a
collaboration among equals (and a kind of feedback: you'll probably tend to
stop collaborating with people who produce weak test cases).
Of course, collaboration stands in opposition to fairness (you probably don't
want to exchange test cases with everybody in class).
but in another, I'm sending "actual code" rather than describing in words
what each test case is.
This comes closer to being a real problem. One of the things I hope 509
students develop is the skill for writing test cases (or at least an
appreciation for it). It would be better if you described in words what each
test case is and does (those of you that have looked at the 509 tests for the
past few years will know that I consider this an important ability). That way,
people would understand from where test cases come and why they look the way
they do.
My hope is that others will add to these files.
Uh-hum, but look Rob: I've got a networking paper, a database project and two
midterms this week. If you just give me your test cases for this assignment, I
swear I'll give you the test cases for the next assignment. I promise.
Really.
In reading over this message, I find that I haven't answered your question. In
the spirit of academic freedom and scholarly exploration, go ahead and send the
test cases; we'll see what happens.
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