DScribe: Co-generating Unit Tests and Documentation

Test suites and documentation capture similar information despite serving distinct purposes. Such redundancy introduces the risk that the artifacts inconsistently capture specifications. We present DScribe, an approach that leverages the redundant information in tests and documentation to reduce the cost of creating them and the threat of inconsistencies. DScribe allows developers to define simple templates that jointly capture the structure to test and document a specification. They can then use these templates to generate consistent and checkable tests and documentation. By linking documentation to unit tests, DScribe ensures documentation accuracy as outdated documentation is flagged by failing tests. DScribe’s template-based approach also enforces a uniform style throughout the artifacts. Hence, in addition to reducing developer effort, DScribe improves artifact quality by ensuring consistent content and style. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUKp3-MjMog