rspec

This is the RSpec mono repo, it contains the core gems we think of as "rspec", they are:

• rspec-core provides the structure for writing executable examples of how your code should behave, and an rspec command with tools to constrain which examples get run and tailor the output.

• rspec-expectations lets you express expected outcomes on an object in an example.

• rspec-mocks is a test-double framework for rspec with support for method stubs, fakes, and message expectations on generated test-doubles and real objects alike.

• rspec-support provides shared helper functionality for the other three gems, in general you don't install this on its own.

Install

gem install rspec              # for rspec-core, rspec-expectations and rspec-mocks
gem install rspec-core         # for rspec-core only
gem install rspec-expectations # for rspec-expectations only
gem install rspec-mocks        # for rspec-mocks only

Want to run against the main branch? You'll need to include the dependent RSpec repos as well. Add the following to your Gemfile:

%w[rspec rspec-core rspec-expectations rspec-mocks rspec-support].each do |lib|
  if lib == 'rspec'
    gem lib, git: "https://github.com/rspec/rspec"
  else
    gem lib, git: "https://github.com/rspec/rspec", glob: "#{lib}/#{lib}.gemspec"
  end
end

The rspec Command

If you install the rspec-core gem, it installs the rspec executable, which you'll use to run rspec. The rspec command comes with many useful options.

Run rspec --help to see the complete list.

Getting started:

RSpec uses the words "describe" and "it" so we can express concepts like a conversation:

"Describe a calculator."
"It adds together numbers."

e.g.

# in spec/calculator_spec.rb
RSpec.describe Calculator do
  describe '#add' do
    it 'returns the sum of its arguments' do
      expect(Calculator.new.add(1, 2)).to eq(3)
    end
  end
end

Run this with the rspec command, and watch it fail:

$ rspec spec/calculator_spec.rb
./spec/calculator_spec.rb:1: uninitialized constant Calculator

Address the failure by defining a skeleton of the Calculator class:

# in lib/calculator.rb
class Calculator
  def add(a, b)
  end
end

Be sure to require the implementation file in the spec:

# in spec/calculator_spec.rb
# - RSpec adds ./lib to the $LOAD_PATH
require "calculator"

Now run the spec again, and watch the expectation fail:

$ rspec spec/calculator_spec.rb
F

Failures:

  1) Calculator#add returns the sum of its arguments
     Failure/Error: expect(Calculator.new.add(1, 2)).to eq(3)

       expected: 3
            got: nil

       (compared using ==)
     # ./spec/calculator_spec.rb:6:in `block (3 levels) in <top (required)>'

Finished in 0.00131 seconds (files took 0.10968 seconds to load)
1 example, 1 failure

Failed examples:

rspec ./spec/calculator_spec.rb:5 # Calculator#add returns the sum of its arguments

Implement the simplest solution, by changing the definition of Calculator#add to:

def add(a, b)
  a + b
end

Now run the spec again, and watch it pass:

$ rspec spec/calculator_spec.rb
.

Finished in 0.000315 seconds
1 example, 0 failures

Use the documentation formatter to see the resulting spec:

$ rspec spec/calculator_spec.rb --format doc
Calculator
  #add
    returns the sum of its arguments

Finished in 0.000379 seconds
1 example, 0 failures

Contributing

Once you've set up the environment, you'll need to cd into the working directory of whichever repo you want to work in. From there you can run the specs and cucumber features, and make patches.

• Build details
• Code of Conduct
• Detailed contributing guide
• Development setup guide

Also see

• https://github.com/rspec/rspec-rails