Testing GUI applications, part 2

In the first installment of this series, we outlined what it means to test graphical user interface (GUI) applications, and to what ends that testing is done. (See part 1.) Now we'll apply those abstractions to a model situation that illustrates a handful of the best testing techniques specifically applicable to GUIs.

A sample program

The source code for this article is all written in Tcl/Tk. This is the one GUI binding most likely to be installed and already available on your workstation. There's a good chance you can enter the source code below and run it immediately on your desktop.

             # Program 0.
      set last_push 0
      
      pack [button .b -text "Push me" -command {
          set current_push [clock seconds]
          if $last_push {
              .l configure -text \
              "It has been [expr $current_push - $last_push]\
               seconds since the last button push."
          } else {
              .l configure -text "That was the first button push."
          }
          set last_push $current_push
      }] [label .l]
   

That is a tiny application with one button, and one textual display updated by the button. It's written in a rather Visual Basic (VB) style of Tcl/Tk.

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