[rspec-users] got/expects causes mental layering violation

[David Chelimsky]

On 8/2/07, Jay Levitt <lists-rspec at shopwatch.org> wrote:
> I was, for the first time, spec'ing a class that redefined ==.  And my
> spec was incorrect, so == was returning false.
>
> The result was something like:
>
> class C
>    def ==(other)
>      false
>    end
> end
>
> .. C.new.should == other...
>
> expected other, got #<C:0x7f03c454> (using ==)

What did it really call other? The output should be evaluating a
variable there, not naming it.

> But wait!  Why on earth is == returning the class itself instead of
> true/false?  That shouldn't be possible.  No, no time for coffee, let me
> go debug this for a few hours... oh.  of course.  == IS returning a
> boolean value, in this case, false; rspec is helpfully showing me
> C.inspect so I can see why they MIGHT differ, assuming I haven't
> redefined ==.  Which I have.
>
> Would it be good, when == is redefined (or eql? or equals?) for the
> rspec output to indicate somehow what it's doing and why you might be
> seeing what you're seeing?  Maybe something like
>
> expected C==other, but C!=other.  You have redefined ==.  C.inspect
> shows: #<C:...>
>
> but much prettier and better worded.
>
> Or do I just call this a learning experience?

I must be missing something. I don't really understand the problem you
are experiencing. Any class can redefine == at any time. Many library
classes do. That's just part of the language. You defined == to always
return false, so the feedback you got seems to be the feedback you
would expect.

Even if you do explain this differently and I end up seeing it
differently, I don't think it's feasible for rspec to be trying to
discover what methods get defined, overridden, etc, and when.

Cheers,
David

>
> Jay
>
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