More and more R packages access resources on the web, and play crucial roles in workflows. Examples from the rOpenSci suite of packages include rromeo, GSODR, qualtRics, rnassqs, and many, many others. Like for all other packages, appropriate unit testing can make them more robust. However, unit testing of these packages can bring special challenges: dependence of tests on a good internet connection, testing in the absence of authentication secrets, etc. Having tests fail due to resources being down or slow, during development or on CRAN, means a time loss for everyone involved (slower development, messages from CRAN). Although many packages accessing remote resources are well tested, there used to be a lack of resources around best practices… But now there is one great information source, our HTTP testing in R online book! 🎉
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ropensci.org/blog/2021/01/26/http-testing-book/