---
title: An Improved vim-rspec Workflow
teaser: Run single specs and entire features with vim-rspec.
tags: web,vim,testing
author: Chris Thorn
published_on: 2015-03-24
---

Nearly two years ago
we [announced] our [vim-rspec] project,
a tool for running RSpec tests
from within Vim.
It allows for a workflow
that fosters a tight TDD loop,
minimizing development downtime.

## A typical TDD workflow

When implementing a new feature,
my typical TDD loop looks like this:

1. Write a test, verify it fails
1. Implement the production code
1. Run the test again, verify it passes
1. Run the whole spec file, verify all tests pass
1. Repeat

After running through this loop
several times,
I'll stop to run
the whole test suite.

`vim-rspec` lends itself well
to this workflow,
by exposing the functions
`RunNearestSpec()`
to run the spec nearest to
the current line,
and `RunCurrentSpecFile()`
to run all tests in the file.
If the active buffer
is not a spec file,
these functions will run
the last executed spec.

In [thoughtbot/dotfiles],
we map
`<leader>s` to `RunNearestSpec()`
and `<leader>t` to `RunCurrentSpecFile()`
to make them easy to execute.

## A pain point

By only storing a single *last spec* execution,
`RunNearestSpec()` and `RunCurrentSpecFile()`
will do the same thing
when the active buffer
is not a spec file.

If I'm implementing a new feature,
it's easy to run the last spec for it
by entering `<leader>s`.
But when that single spec passes,
I have to open the spec file
in the active buffer
in order for `<leader>t` to
execute the whole thing.
This extra step
hurts my TDD loop.

## An improvement

Recently, we updated `vim-rspec`
so that `RunNearestSpec()`
and `RunCurrentSpecFile()`
track their last executions separately.
Now when the active buffer
is not a spec file,
`<leader>s` will execute the last nearest spec
and `<leader>t` will run
all of the specs
in the last executed spec file.

A speed bump has been removed
from my workflow,
and my TDD loop
is tighter than ever.

[thoughtbot/dotfiles]: https://github.com/thoughtbot/dotfiles/blob/master/vimrc
[vim-rspec]: https://github.com/thoughtbot/vim-rspec
[announced]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/running-specs-from-vim