layout: post

title: Testing Your Project with Rubinius on Travis

author: Brian Shirai

[Travis CI](http://travis-ci.org) has been a tremendously useful tool for

automating testing and has provided Ruby implementations with valuable

feedback. However, it can be a trial-and-error process to find the right

incantations for `.travis.yml` to get your preferred selection of Ruby

implementations running. This post explains how to test your project on

Rubinius.

With the Rubinius 2.0 release, there are no longer language modes. Rubinius is

presently working on compatibility with the upcoming MRI 2.1 release. There

are still compatibility issues to be fixed, primarily keyword syntax and some

core library API changes. What this means for your `.travis.yml` file is that

'rbx-18mode' and 'rbx-19mode' are no longer supported. We submitted a patch to

the [Travis lint tool](https://github.com/travis-ci/travis-lint) to check for

this, so please use the linter!

So, if those language modes are no longer available, what should you add to

your `.travis.yml` file? Remember that Rubinius is releasing new versions every

week or so. Together with recent changes to RVM, this gives four options for

how specific you want to be about the Rubinius version you test against. The

following list of Rubinius options is from least-to-most specific:

1. 'rbx' - This means the most recent Rubinius release. Every time your tests

run, the most recently released binary will be used.

1. 'rbx-X' - This means the most recent Major release. For example, if you use

'rbx-2' (which is the only one available right now), your tests will run on

the most recent 2.Y.Z release, but would not run on 3.Y.Z.

1. 'rbx-X.Y' - This means the most recent Minor release. If you use 'rbx-2.2',

your tests will run on the most recent 2.2.Z release, but will not use the

2.3.Z or 2.1.Z release.

1. 'rbx-X.Y.Z' - This means precisely the specified release. So, 'rbx-2.2.1'

will run only on the 2.1.1 releease and no other release.

This method of designating the version of Rubinius you wish to run against

should look similar to specifying versions of gems with the pessimistic

operator (~>). It is intended to give you the same flexibility while allowing

for stability constraints that you choose.

Since each of these designations is independent, you can mix and match them as

you wish. For example, if you know that Rubinius 2.2.1 is green for your

project, you can specify both 'rbx-2.2.1' and 'rbx'. Or you can always stay on

the cutting edge by just using 'rbx'.

If you need help getting your project set up or updated on Travis, please let

us know. I've created a simple project called

[travis-canary](https://travis-ci.org/rubinius/travis-canary) that you can

check to see if the ways of specifying Rubinius listed above are currently

working on Travis.

Happy testing!