Re: testing framework and package.el

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Christian Ohler writes:

 >   On 5/10/10 2:18, Chong Yidong wrote:
 > > Christian Ohler<address@hidden>  writes:
 > >> Is there a deep reason
 > >> why Emacs currently has test/ as a separate top-level directory?
 > > Because the test files are not to be distributed with the tarball.

 > Why not?

Conceptually, tests should be developed separately from the core, just
as the Lisp Reference is.  Of course, in practice it's not that easy,
but I think it's a good idea to structure the tests and the reference
at the same level as the core sources.

XEmacs experience with its tests has shown that having the tests
subsidiary to the source tree leads to regressions.  Specifically,
changing the source code leads to changes in behavior, and these
changes are "sanctified" by writing tests after the fact.  But these
tests are *not* run against older versions, leading to unplanned
divergence in behavior.  Occasionally these divergences are annoying
to users or third-party libraries.

I think as a matter of convenience both Reference and tests should be
distributed with (ie, in) the core tarball.