Flash ActionScript 2.0 Unit Test Framework Beta Released

Ali Mills and Luke Bayes are excited to announce a new Open Source ActionScript 2.0 Unit Test Framework named "AsUnit". This library is being released on SourceForge.net as beta software (under the LGPL license), and has been successfully used (in various forms) within a range of projects over the past 5 months. We have been involved in test-driven development for a short time now and are very eager to share the results of our efforts with others. Our goals with this release include wide-spread adoption, collaboration and knowledge sharing.

As some of you may know, there are already two (that were aware of) other Unit Test Frameworks available for Flash. These are, "ASUnit" from Robin Debreuil, and "As2Unit" from iteration::two. Each of these initiatives and certainly these two groups, carry our complete and undying respect and gratitude as they have laid a critical foundation for this work to be done. Unfortunately, neither of these releases really succeeded in meeting our (possibly unique) day to day testing needs. Some of these needs are as follows:

- Tests should be written in pure ActionScript 2.0 and require absolute minimal interaction with the Flash MX 2004 IDE. (We use Sapien PrimalScript for all of our AS 2.0 Development and encourage anyone else to do the same.)

- Source Code should be freely available so that we (or others) can quickly fix whats broken or make changes to suit specific and possibly unique needs.

- Should provide GUI output that is as similar as possible to existing Unit Test standards from other languages. (JUnit)

- Should provide minimal notification for successful system tests so that failures receive the attention that they deserve.

- Should not write directly to the native Output Window so that our (very useful and occasionally desirable) compile errors do not get lost.

- Should allow tests to be executed (and displayed) from both the IDE Test-Movie Player, and the Browser.

- Should provide current and extensive documentation combined with sample files. (Admittedly, this is a weakness in our current build, but perhaps *you* can help with this issue and receive massive honors and notoriety!)

- Would like some facility for quickly creating Classes from Templates *along with* their associated Unit Test Class. (*A feature of our release that has already saved us countless hours of menial and redundant typing.)

While this release really succeeds in meeting our particular development needs, it may not be exactly what you want. This is why weve released it under the LGPL license. You can contribute to help make it what you want or you can try out one of the other Flash Unit Test options that are available.

Please check out the following links to learn more about this exciting release and/or Test-Driven Development in general:

To download and start using the "AsUnit" framework:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/asunit/

To start helping with development and maintenance of the framework:
http://sourceforge.net/project/memberlist.php?group_id=108947

Post notes, ideas, thoughts, and errata to our Project Forums at:
https://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=374043

Interested in reading the ideas bouncing around during initial development:
http://lukebayes.blogspot.com/

Robins Release of "ASUnit" (His blog is a must-read)
http://www.debreuil.com/FrameworkDocs/UnitTestingOverview.htm

iteration::two:
http://www.iterationtwo.com

iteration::two (AS2Unit):
http://www.as2unit.org

Test Driven Development / Extreme Programming:
http://www.junit.org
http://www.extremeprogramming.org
http://www.xprogramming.com

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear from you soon!

Ali Mills | Luke Bayes