PyHou - IronPython: Hot Glue for .NET

Hello Pythonistas!

For October, Lawrence Jones will present on using IronPython and Lettuce for behavior-driven development in .NET...details below!

You want to unit test changes to an application; however, it was not designed to be tested. What about using behavior-driven development (BDD) as an alternative? Ruby has Cucumber to support BDD. In the .NET world, driving UI applications is supported by the Bewildr gem. But what if you prefer Python?

.NET languages support integration between any components that target the Common Language Runtime (CLR). However, writing acceptance tests in C# involves writing many, many lines of code. In addition, coding in C# does not facilitate any kind of exploratory development. If you are uncertain how a .NET component works, you must either find a tutorial or explanation on the 'net and just copy the code or write (and debug) a complete application to try things out.

Python has long been touted as a "glue" language. What about IronPython? Lettuce is a Python package that will parse .feature files and call Python code to implement test steps. IronPython allows us to use the .NET UIAutomation library to drive UI applications (without writing all the C# code typically written to drive a UI). Most importantly, IronPython facilitates exploratory development. It allows you to try out ideas in the interactive interpreter or to investigate the actual UI component tree at run time. In short, IronPython is the "hot glue" that more easily allows BDD on .NET.

................................................

Our meetup is located at the Stag's Head Pub, near Richmond and Shepherd. Please enjoy their menu and drink offerings, so they continue to enjoy hosting us! Lastly, please RSVP (even if you're a "Maybe"!) to assist us with capacity planning!