Automated testing is one of the most important parts of software development, and yet until now, we haven’t mentioned it. Testing a piece of software relies on a thorough understanding of the tools you are using, and designing tests can be far more difficult (and enjoyable) than writing the code itself.
— Head First Rails pg 407
Despite Rails effort in making testing easy the Head First Rails book ignores testing altogether until a slight mention on one of the very last pages of the book. I perused the index hoping I was wrong, but the author spells out that it was a deliberate decision.
I have a lot of respect for the Head First books as a great way to jump in and learn something new. I’ve posted before about how impressed I was when Head First Software Development went into depth on Agile and testing. Here I’m just saddened by the decision. Even a short appendix with a few examples might have sufficed if not examples throughout or a dedicated chapter. All the other Rails books I’ve come across at least devote some time to the testing conversation.