[chef] ChefSpec 3.0

[Seth Vargo < >]

Ohai Chefs!

I just released chefspec-3.0.0.beta.1, which is a major refactor of the code base with a focus on documentation, extensibility, and modularity. The full CHANGELOG can be found at https://github.com/acrmp/chefspec/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#300-tbd. (I highly discourage looking at the git-diff in your browser). 

Among the major changes are:

• The move to inline documentation and using examples as documentation. One of the biggest complaints we hear from users is the lack of documentation. The README was growing uncontrollably, documentation was out of sync with the version of ChefSpec that was actually published, and there was no way to document when an API was introduced/removed. I’m happy to announce that all of ChefSpec’s documentation is now inline YardDoc and is hosted on RubyDoc.info. Additionally, there are no “hard-core” examples for writing test. The `examples` directory in the repo is not a one-stop shop with every possible matcher permutation for Chef’s core resources. And better yet - those examples aren’t just for show - they are the all new test suite!
• Unified resource matchers. There was often confusion because some matcher included method chaining, and others didn’t. In ChefSpec 3, there’s a general ResourceMatcher that is responsible for all core resources. This ensures that all resources have the method chaining and magic to make things awesome! Centralizing all this logic also allowed for a nice refactor of the custom error messages. The new error messages will make it much easier to debug failing specs.
• Removed non-core resource matchers. In short, if it’s not in Chef-core, it’s not a matcher in ChefSpec-core. But wait - I wouldn’t just leave you hanging…
• Custom Matchers. A long-requested feature! The new modular pattern allows LWRP authors to package ChefSpec matchers with their LWRPs. Writing matchers is an incredibly pleasurable experience and requires almost no RSpec experience! Start packaging your matchers today :)
• All new matchers. In addition to removing all non-Chef matchers, we added all the core-Chef matchers.
• Easy stubbing. I’m so excited to announce that ChefSpec 3.0 includes NATIVE SEARCH STUBBING in a convenient and easy-to-use DSL format. It has never been easier to stub your requests. As part of this new functionality, we also added methods for stubbing data_bags and data_bag_items. And then to wrap it all up, we now expose a DSL method for stubbing a node object (useful when stubbing search results).
• Top-level configuration. In addition to passing attributes to the ChefSpec::Runner’s initialize method, you can now define global configuration options.

That being said, ChefSpec 3.0 is a beta1. It will definitely contain deprecation errors, and it may contain bugs. Please help us test this software by upgrading your projects and reporting any errors or confusion.

If you don’t want to report issue on GitHub, feel free to email me directly with any questions.

This is a great leap forward for the Chef testing ecosystem and I’m very excited to finally get this out in the wild!

Happy Testing!

Seth Vargo

Solutions Engineer, Opscode

@sethvargo