Eye of Ra

This package is aimed at removing the manual aspects of the typical programming change-check cycle, usually invoked by

1. edit
2. save
3. <alt-tab>
4. <up-arrow><enter>
5. curse/scream/yell/despair
6. <alt-tab>
7. Continue from step 1...

Using

Invoke the macro @observe on a function call. The documentation is:

@observe func(args... ; kwds...)

Use Revise to "observe" changes to a functions behaviour. This will track the return values and the stdout/stderr of the function.

Notes:

• This only tracks stdout, stderr output using redirect_stdxxx. Many functions (e.g. display) will not output to the current stdout and so will not be captured.
• "Repeats" are recorded. Two calls repeat, when they have the same output.
• Currently, any change to the function's module will cause the function to be retested.
• This will probably only work on linux at the moment...

Example output

Example with exception

Future work

• Diffs of output and returned values.
• Multiple input arguments to test several cases at once.
  • Option to focus on failures or focus on successes.
• Quick option to save tests as unit tests in package.
• Option to load tests from runtest.jl.

Inspiration

This idea was inspired by Brett Victor's talk "Inventing on Principle": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QiPFmIMxFc

Emacs support

See the emacs package julia-funcobs for an IDE-like interface with julia-repl. Includes image support from Plots.jl.

Naming

Why "Eye of Ra"?

• Watches over.
• Protective.
• Can get "out of control".
• Horus always gets the attention.