Swartz asks us to stop running tests while installing CPAN modules. This a very good idea.
It is very important to make it easy for a beginner to install and work on any Perl module. And a beginner can not be expect to be able to use the results of the tests for anything useful.
We should make a default Perl not require tests to install CPAN modules, while an experience user should still be able to turn on tests.
This will make it faster, and easier for a beginner to actually do something productive and get to the aha moment.
We don't want people to feel the same way as they do with slow web pages or splash screens.
3 comments:
And it will make it extremely hard for beginners to find the source of an error which isn't caused by their code but a used module that didn't run and fail its tests when installed.
In general, Perl modules are well tested, and I think that the risk is worth taking.
Do you think we should write the output of the tests to a log file, to reduce the install time while still getting the benefit of the tests?
I don't agree that perl modules are well tested enough that it's worth taking MXT::Parameterizable has had failing tests for months now, so has MX::Method::Signatures which appears to have just gotten fixed. Archive::Tar::Wrapper too... and these 3 are just what I had installed on my local box already that I was attempting to update that I couldn't due to failing tests. re output of tests, use App::cpanminus, it outputs the result to a log file.
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