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Showing posts from April, 2016

Run Integration Tests Separately Within Your Maven Build

There are several ways to configure Maven to run designated tests separately in a Java project.  Usually, people want to distinguish between unit tests and other types of automated tests during a build.  Unit tests are fast because you are mocking all the external services that the particular code under test is relying upon.  They’re also typically smaller than functional tests, since they are (supposed to be ;) testing a unit of code rather than an entire feature . However, functional tests are also critical to the success of your project.  You or your managers are probably interested in seeing automated end-to-end usage of your application running constantly without errors, but how is this possible without annoying the developers as they wait for all the tests to finish? The Maven Failsafe plugin is most helpful in separating unit from functional tests.  By default, it focuses on tests whose filename follows the specific pattern: **/IT*.java **/*IT.java **/*ITCase.

Arduino Day Special: Make an EPROM Tester with an Arduino Mega and Octal Latch

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I could have just asked around to see if anyone had an EPROM validator, but why ask when you can spend several hours doing it yourself, and then several more hours writing in pedantic detail about it?  Of course, I must have the DIY bone... Who still uses EPROMs, anyway? While working on old solid-state pinball machines from the 1980s and late '70s, you might run into a situation where a dead ROM chip needs to be replaced.  Certain types of machines (I'm looking at you, all you Gottlieb System 80's) suffer a problem where coils can get locked on due to bad grounding design throughout the system, and then cause transistors and all sorts of other things on the driver board and even possibly the main board to fry themselves.  In other cases, battery corrosion might leech into the ROM chip and possibly compromise it.  No matter what the case is, you might find yourself in need of new ROMs at some point. Now I could easily go and find new ROMs for my game, order them, a