[Asunit-users] ASUnit 101: Where do I start?

[David H. <em...@da...>]

Luke,

If you don=B9t mind all my n00b questions, I=B9ll keep asking them! I will
prefix them with =8CASUnit 101=B9 and then I and others can find them later.

I have ASUnit installed and working, and my app structure is like this:

/assets --> for images and other compile time assets
/deploy --> for SWFs, HTML, XML, and other runtime items
/source --> FLA and classes
/test --> ASUnit framework and test harness code

The app I am building is a room layout tool; users can lay out walls, and
arrange room objects like furniture and cabinets. The output is an XML-base=
d
description of the room and a series of area measurements. I have a rough
MVC structure planned, as well as an object model.

But where do I start with my test-code-simplify cycle? It seems that every
object requires something that would come from another object, and if I wan=
t
my tests to mirror real-world conditions (which they should do, yes?) I nee=
d
to create those objects first and then use them in my later tests.

Should I start at the top, with my main application class, and work inwards=
,
or should I start with my smallest classes (like Polygon, which will be use=
d
by the Room object), and build out, adding new classes as I need them?

I ask because it already seems like a lot of extra work. I don't know how t=
o
think of it in test-first terms yet. Normally I would just sketch out my MV=
C
structure, and then jump into building it, using trace() to check my work a=
s
I go. But now I am trying to think of tests for each little method and
property, tests that will become part of the permanent test harness, and
it's such a different way to think that I am sort of stymied by it.

I understand that TDD is supposed to provide a more understandable and
maintainable app, a leaner codebase, and an automated test suite, at the
expense of a little extra time and extra code produced, in the form of all
the test cases. I am just confused as to how to start

As always, any help you or others can provide is greatly appreciated. I wil=
l
adapt what I learn and put it in the wikiBook.

OK
DAH

BTW, I am trying to follow the Test First Guidelines as described here:
http://xprogramming.com/xpmag/testFirstGuidelines.htm