chore: add usage information to clock library README

spikecurtis · spikecurtis · commit 82e85b40898f · 2024-06-20T10:21:08.000+04:00
diff --git a/clock/README.md b/clock/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,362 @@ A Go time testing library for writing deterministic unit tests
 _Note: Quartz is the name I'm targeting for the standalone open source project when we spin this
 out._
 
+Our high level goal is to write unit tests that
+
+1. execute quickly
+2. don't flake
+3. are straightforward to write and understand
+
+For tests to execute quickly without flakes, we want to focus on _determinism_: the test should run
+the same each time, and it should be easy to force the system into a known state (no races) before
+executing test assertions. `time.Sleep`, `runtime.Gosched()`, and
+polling/[Eventually](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/stretchr/testify/assert#Eventually) are all
+symptoms of an inability to do this easily.
+
+## Usage
+
+### `Clock` interface
+
+In your application code, maintain a reference to a `quartz.Clock` instance to start timers and
+tickers, instead of the bare `time` standard library.
+
+```go
+import "github.com/coder/quartz"
+
+type Component struct {
+    ...
+
+    // for testing
+    clock quartz.Clock
+}
+```
+
+Whenever you would call into `time` to start a timer or ticker, call `Component.clock` instead.
+
+In production, set this clock to `quartz.NewReal()` to create a clock that just transparently passes
+through to the realtime clock.
+
+### Mocking
+
+In your tests, you can use a `*Mock` to control the tickers and timers your code under test gets.
+
+```go
+import (
+    "testing"
+    "github.com/coder/quartz"
+)
+
+func TestComponent(t *testing.T) {
+    mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+    comp := &Component{
+        ...
+        clock: mClock,
+    }
+}
+```
+
+The `*Mock` clock starts at Jan 1, 2024, 00:00 UTC by default, but you can set any start time you'd like prior to your test.
+
+```go
+mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+mClock.Set(time.Date(2021, 6, 18, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)) // June 18, 2021 @ 12pm UTC
+```
+
+#### Advancing the clock
+
+Once you begin setting timers or tickers, you cannot change the time backward, only advance it
+forward. You may continue to use `Set()`, but it is often easier and clearer to use `Advance()`.
+
+For example, with a timer:
+
+```go
+fired := false
+
+tmr := mClock.Afterfunc(time.Second, func() {
+  fired = true
+})
+mClock.Advance(time.Second)
+```
+
+When you call `Advance()` it immediately moves the clock forward the given amount, and triggers any
+tickers or timers that are scheduled to happen at that time. Any triggered events happen on separate
+goroutines, so _do not_ immediately assert the results:
+
+```go
+fired := false
+
+tmr := mClock.Afterfunc(time.Second, func() {
+  fired = true
+})
+mClock.Advance(time.Second)
+
+// RACE CONDITION, DO NOT DO THIS!
+if !fired {
+  t.Fatal("didn't fire")
+}
+```
+
+`Advance()` (and `Set()` for that matter) return an `AdvanceWaiter` object you can use to wait for
+all triggered events to complete.
+
+```go
+fired := false
+// set a test timeout so we don't wait the default `go test` timeout for a failure
+ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+
+tmr := mClock.Afterfunc(time.Second, func() {
+  fired = true
+})
+
+w := mClock.Advance(time.Second)
+err := w.Wait(ctx)
+if err != nil {
+  t.Fatal("AfterFunc f never completed")
+}
+if !fired {
+  t.Fatal("didn't fire")
+}
+```
+
+The construction of waiting for the triggered events and failing the test if they don't complete is
+very common, so there is a shorthand:
+
+```go
+w := mClock.Advance(time.Second)
+err := w.Wait(ctx)
+if err != nil {
+  t.Fatal("AfterFunc f never completed")
+}
+```
+
+is equivalent to:
+
+```go
+w := mClock.Advance(time.Second)
+w.MustWait(ctx)
+```
+
+or even more briefly:
+
+```go
+mClock.Advance(time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+```
+
+### Advance only to the next event
+
+One important restriction on advancing the clock is that you may only advance forward to the next
+timer or ticker event and no further. The following will result in a test failure:
+
+```go
+func TestAdvanceTooFar(t *testing.T) {
+    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(10*time.Second)
+    defer cancel()
+    mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+    var firedAt time.Time
+    mClock.AfterFunc(time.Second, func() {
+        firedAt := mClock.Now()
+    })
+    mClock.Advance(2*time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+}
+```
+
+This is a deliberate design decision to allow `Advance()` to immediately and synchronously move the
+clock forward (even without calling `Wait()` on returned waiter). This helps meet Quartz's design
+goals of writing deterministic and easy to understand unit tests. It also allows the clock to be
+advanced, deterministically _during_ the execution of a tick or timer function, as explained in the
+next sections on Traps.
+
+Advancing multiple events can be accomplished via looping. E.g. if you have a 1-second ticker
+
+```go
+for i:=0; i<10; i++ {
+    mClock.Advance(time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+}
+```
+
+will advance 10 ticks.
+
+If you don't know or don't want to compute the time to the next event, you can use `AdvanceNext()`.
+
+```go
+d, w := mClock.AdvanceNext()
+w.MustWait(ctx)
+// d contains the duration we advanced
+```
+
+### Traps
+
+A trap allows you to match specific calls into the library while mocking, block their return,
+inspect their arguments, then release them to allow them to return. They help you write
+deterministic unit tests even when the code under test executes asynchronously from the test.
+
+You set your traps prior to executing code under test, and then wait for them to be triggered.
+
+```go
+func TestTrap(t *testing.T) {
+    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(10*time.Second)
+    defer cancel()
+    mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+    trap := mClock.Trap().AfterFunc()
+    defer trap.Close() // stop trapping AfterFunc calls
+
+    count := 0
+    go mClock.AfterFunc(time.Hour, func(){
+        count++
+    })
+    call := trap.MustWait(ctx)
+    call.Release()
+    if call.Duration != time.Hour {
+        t.Fatal("wrong duration")
+    }
+
+    // Now that the async call to AfterFunc has occurred, we can advance the clock to trigger it
+    mClock.Advance(time.Hour).MustWait(ctx)
+    if count != 1 {
+        t.Fatal("wrong count")
+    }
+}
+```
+
+In this test, the trap serves 2 purposes. Firstly, it allows us to capture and assert the duration
+passed to the `AfterFunc` call. Secondly, it prevents a race between setting the timer and advancing
+it. Since these things happen on different goroutines, if `Advance()` completes before
+`AfterFunc()` is called, then the timer never pops in this test.
+
+Any untrapped calls immediately complete using the current time, and calling `Close()` on a trap
+causes the mock clock to stop trapping those calls.
+
+You may also `Advance()` the clock between trapping a call and releasing it. The call uses the
+current (mocked) time at the moment it is released.
+
+```go
+func TestTrap2(t *testing.T) {
+    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(10*time.Second)
+    defer cancel()
+    mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+    trap := mClock.Trap().Since()
+    defer trap.Close() // stop trapping AfterFunc calls
+
+    var logs []string
+    done := make(chan struct{})
+    go func(clk quartz.Clock){
+        defer close(done)
+        start := clk.Now()
+        phase1()
+        p1end := clk.Now()
+        logs = append(fmt.Sprintf("Phase 1 took %s", p1end.Sub(start).String()))
+        phase2()
+        p2end := clk.Now()
+        logs = append(fmt.Sprintf("Phase 2 took %s", p2end.Sub(p1end).String()))
+    }(mClock)
+
+    // start
+    trap.MustWait(ctx).Release()
+    // phase 1
+    call := trap.MustWait(ctx)
+    mClock.Advance(3*time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+    call.Release()
+    // phase 2
+    call = trap.MustWait(ctx)
+    mClock.Advance(5*time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+    call.Release()
+
+    <-done
+    // Now logs contains []string{"Phase 1 took 3s", "Phase 2 took 5s"}
+}
+```
+
+### Tags
+
+When multiple goroutines in the code under test call into the Clock, you can use `tags` to
+distinguish them in your traps.
+
+```go
+trap := mClock.Trap.Now("foo") // traps any calls that contain "foo"
+defer trap.Close()
+
+foo := make(chan time.Time)
+go func(){
+  foo <- mClock.Now("foo", "bar")
+}()
+baz := make(chan time.Time)
+go func(){
+    baz <- mClock.Now("baz")
+}()
+call := trap.MustWait(ctx)
+mClock.Advance(time.Second).MustWait(ctx)
+call.Release()
+// call.Tags contains []string{"foo", "bar"}
+
+gotFoo := <-foo // 1s after start
+gotBaz := <-baz // ?? never trapped, so races with Advance()
+```
+
+Tags appear as an optional suffix on all `Clock` methods (type `...string`) and are ignored entirely
+by the realtime clock. They also appear on all methods on returned timers and tickers.
+
+## Recommended Patterns
+
+### Options
+
+We use the Option pattern to inject the mock clock for testing, keeping the call signature in
+production clean. The option pattern is compatible with other optional fields as well.
+
+```go
+type Option func(*Thing)
+
+// WithTestClock is used in tests to inject a mock Clock
+func WithTestClock(clk quartz.Clock) Option {
+    return func(t *Thing) {
+        t.clock = clk
+    }
+}
+
+func NewThing(<required args>, opts ...Option) *Thing {
+    t := &Thing{
+        ...
+        clock: quartz.NewReal()
+    }
+    for _, o := range opts {
+      o(t)
+    }
+    return t
+}
+```
+
+In tests, this becomes
+
+```go
+func TestThing(t *testing.T) {
+    mClock := quartz.NewMock(t)
+    thing := NewThing(<required args>, WithTestClock(mClock))
+    ...
+}
+```
+
+### Tagging convention
+
+Tag your `Clock` method calls as:
+
+```go
+func (c *Component) Method() {
+  now := c.clock.Now("Component", "Method")
+}
+```
+
+or
+
+```go
+func (c *Component) Method() {
+  start := c.clock.Now("Component", "Method", "start")
+  ...
+  end := c.clock.Now("Component", "Method", "end")
+}
+```
+
+This makes it much less likely that code changes that introduce new components or methods will spoil
+existing unit tests.
+
 ## Why another time testing library?
 
 Writing good unit tests for components and functions that use the `time` package is difficult, even
@@ -18,7 +374,7 @@ Quartz shares the high level design of a `Clock` interface that closely resemble
 the `time` standard library, and a "real" clock passes thru to the standard library in production,
 while a mock clock gives precise control in testing.
 
-Our high level goal is to write unit tests that
+As mentioned in our introduction, our high level goal is to write unit tests that
 
 1. execute quickly
 2. don't flake
@@ -27,12 +383,6 @@ Our high level goal is to write unit tests that
 For several reasons, this is a tall order when it comes to code that depends on time, and we found
 the existing libraries insufficient for our goals.
 
-For tests to execute quickly without flakes, we want to focus on _determinism_: the test should run
-the same each time, and it should be easy to force the system into a known state (no races) before
-executing test assertions. `time.Sleep`, `runtime.Gosched()`, and
-polling/[Eventually](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/stretchr/testify/assert#Eventually) are all
-symptoms of an inability to do this easily.
-
 ### Preventing test flakes
 
 The following example comes from the README from benbjohnson/clock:
