Parallel Testing in Rails 7: Benefits and Pitfalls
Tags: webdev, ruby, testing, programming
Published: 2023-08-28 02:00:00

Parallel testing has emerged as a popular strategy for speeding up test suites, and with Rails 7, it's more efficient and effective than ever. However, as with any technology, understanding its benefits and challenges is essential for optimal utilization.

### **1. Introduction to Parallel Testing in Rails 7**

Parallel testing lets you run your test suite in a concurrent manner. By default, Rails 7 forks processes using Ruby's DRb system. The number of processes forked corresponds to the machine's core count but can be adjusted.

To activate parallel testing, insert this into **`test_helper.rb`**:

```ruby
class ActiveSupport::TestCase
  parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors)
end
```

For those using JRuby or desiring threaded parallelization, Rails 7 offers a threaded parallelizer, backed by Minitest's Parallel::Executor. To employ threads:

```ruby
class ActiveSupport::TestCase
  parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors, with: :threads)
end
```

### **2. How Parallel Testing Works in Rails 7**

Parallelization divides the test suite based on specified worker count. By default, Active Record handles database creation and schema loading for each process, prefixing databases with corresponding worker numbers.

To modify the worker count during a test run:

```bash
PARALLEL_WORKERS=15 bin/rails test
```

### **3. Addressing Common Pitfalls**

While parallel testing brings promise, be aware of the potential snags:

**a. Compatibility with RSpec**

In Rails 6, RSpec didn't support built-in parallel testing. While this has been a point of discussion, if you're still using RSpec and require parallel tests, you might rely on third-party gems like **`[grosser/parallel_tests](https://github.com/grosser/parallel_tests)`**.

**b. Overhead with Smaller Test Suites**

Sometimes, a minor test suite might run slower in parallel due to overheads like multiple database setups. Rails 7, however, introduces a default threshold (50 tests) to decide when to parallelize. Adjust this threshold if required:

```ruby
config.active_support.test_parallelization_threshold = 100
```

**c. Random Failures Due to Shared Resources**

Race conditions introduced by parallel testing can yield random failures. For instance, when two tests access a shared file, their parallel execution can interfere with each other's operations.

To resolve, ensure tests don't share resources and leverage **`Tempfiles`** for files or **`parallelize_setup`** to namespace resources.

### **4. Gradual Adoption Strategy**

For projects anticipating challenges with full-blown parallel testing adoption, a staggered approach might be beneficial. This way, developers can introduce parallel testing one test class at a time:

1. **Module Approach**: Design a module that, when included by a test class, makes it run tests in parallel.
    
    ```ruby
    module Parallelize
      def self.included(base)
        base.class_eval do
          parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors)
          # ... other setups
        end
      end
    end
    
    class MyTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
      include Parallelize
    end
    ```
    
2. **Inheritance Approach**: Create a test class that runs tests in parallel and inherit from it for tests that are ready for parallelization.
    
    ```ruby
    class ParallelTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
      parallelize(workers: :number_of_processors)
    end
    ```
    

### **5. Conclusion**

Parallel testing in Rails 7 is undeniably a potent tool to accelerate test suites. With proper understanding and measures, developers can fully harness its power while sidestepping potential pitfalls. Whether adopting it fully or in stages, the key is to ensure that resources are accessed safely and that intermittent test failures are addressed appropriately.

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