Separate layout test docs stating facts from guidelines.

docs/testing/layout_tests_tips.md

Index: docs/testing/layout_tests_tips.md
diff --git a/docs/testing/layout_tests_tips.md b/docs/testing/layout_tests_tips.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8a2ee1286c598d71b2334b99523571321f228a2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/testing/layout_tests_tips.md
@@ -0,0 +1,301 @@
+# Layout Tests Tips
+
+The recommendations here are intended to help you write new tests that go
+through code review with a minimal number of round trips, remain useful as Blink
+evolves, and serve as an asset (rather than a liability) for the team.
+
+While reading existing layout tests, please keep in mind that they represent
+snapshots taken over many years of an ever-evolving collective opinion of what
+good Web pages and solid tests should look like. Thus, it should not come as a
+surprise that most existing layout tests are not consistent with these
+recommendations, and are not even consistent with each other.
+
+*** note
+This document intentionally uses _should_ a lot more than _must_, as defined in
+[RFC 2119](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt). Writing layout tests is a
+careful act of balancing many concerns, and this humble document cannot possibly
+capture the context that rests in the head of an experienced Blink engineer.
+***
+
+## General Principles
+
+This section contains guidelines adopted from
+[Test the Web Forward's Test Format Guidelines](http://testthewebforward.org/docs/test-format-guidelines.html)
+and
+[WebKit's Wiki page on Writing good test cases](https://trac.webkit.org/wiki/Writing%20Layout%20Tests%20for%20DumpRenderTree),
+with Blink-specific flavoring.
+
+### Concise
+
+Tests should be **concise**, without compromising on the principles below. Every
+element and piece of code on the page should be necessary and relevant to what
+is being tested. For example, don't build a fully functional signup form if you
+only need a text field or a button.
+
+Content needed to satisfy the principles below is considered necessary. For
+example, it is acceptable and desirable to add elements that make the test
+self-describing (see below), and to add code that makes the test more reliable
+(see below).
+
+Content that makes test failures easier to debug is considered necessary (to
+maintaining a good development speed), and is both acceptable and desirable.
+
+*** promo
+Conciseness is particularly important for reference tests and pixel tests, as
+the test pages are rendered in an 800x600px viewport. Having content outside the
+viewport is undesirable because the outside content does not get compared, and
+because the resulting scrollbars are platform-specific UI widgets, making the
+test results less reliable.
+***
+
+### Fast
+
+Tests should be as **fast** as possible, without compromising on the principles
+below. Blink has several thousand layout tests that are run in parallel, and
+avoiding unnecessary delays is crucial to keeping our Commit Queue in good
+shape.
+
+Avoid
+[window.setTimeout](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WindowTimers/setTimeout),
+as it wastes time on the testing infrastructure. Instead, use specific event
+handlers, such as
+[window.onload](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/GlobalEventHandlers/onload),
+to decide when to advance to the next step in a test.
+
+### Reliable
+
+Tests should be **reliable** and yield consistent results for a given
+implementation. Flaky tests slow down your fellow developers' debugging efforts
+and the Commit Queue.
+
+`window.setTimeout` is again a primary offender here. Asides from wasting time
+on a fast system, tests that rely on fixed timeouts can fail when on systems
+that are slower than expected.
+
+When adding or significantly modifying a layout test, use the command below to
+assess its flakiness. While not foolproof, this approach gives you some
+confidence, and giving up CPU cycles for mental energy is a pretty good trade.
+
+```bash
+third_party/WebKit/Tools/Scripts/run-webkit-tests path/to/test.html --repeat-each=100
+```
+
+The
+[PSA on writing reliable layout tests](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yl4SnTLBWmY1O99_BTtQvuoffP8YM9HZx2YPkEsaduQ/edit).
+also has good guidelines for writing reliable tests.
+
+### Self-Describing
+
+Tests should be **self-describing**, so that a project member can recognize
+whether a test passes or fails without having to read the specification of the
+feature being tested.
+
+`testharness.js` makes a test self-describing when used correctly. Other types
+of tests, such as reference tests and
+[tests with manual fallback](./layout_tests_with_manual_fallback.md),
+[must be carefully designed](http://testthewebforward.org/docs/test-style-guidelines.html)
+to be self-describing.
+
+### Minimal
+
+Tests should require a **minimal** amount of cognitive effort to read and
+maintain.
+
+Avoid depending on edge case behavior of features that aren't explicitly covered
+by the test. For example, except where testing parsing, tests should contain
+valid markup (no parsing errors).
+
+Tests should provide as much relevant information as possible when failing.
+`testharness.js` tests should prefer
+[rich assert_ functions](https://github.com/w3c/testharness.js/blob/master/docs/api.md#list-of-assertions)
+to combining `assert_true()` with a boolean operator. Using appropriate
+`assert_` functions results in better diagnostic output when the assertion
+fails.
+
+### Cross-Platform
+
+Tests should be as **cross-platform** as reasonably possible. Avoid assumptions
+about device type, screen resolution, etc. Unavoidable assumptions should be
+documented.
+
+When possible, tests should only use Web platform features, as specified
+in the relevant standards. When the Web platform's APIs are insufficient,
+tests should prefer to use WPT extended testing APIs, such as
+`wpt_automation`, over Blink-specific testing APIs.
+
+Test pages should use the HTML5 doctype (`<!doctype html>`) unless they
+specifically cover
+[quirks mode](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Quirks_Mode_and_Standards_Mode)
+behavior.
+
+Tests should avoid using features that haven't been shipped by the
+actively-developed major rendering engines (Blink, WebKit, Gecko, Edge). When
+unsure, check [caniuse.com](http://caniuse.com/). By necessity, this
+recommendation does not apply to the feature targeted by the test.
+
+*** note
+It may be tempting have a test for a bleeding-edge feature X depend on feature
+Y, which has only shipped in beta / development versions of various browsers.
+The reasoning would be that all browsers that implement X will have implemented
+Y. Please keep in mind that Chrome has un-shipped features that made it to the
+Beta channel in the past.
+***
+
+*** aside
+[ES2015](http://benmccormick.org/2015/09/14/es5-es6-es2016-es-next-whats-going-on-with-javascript-versioning/)
+is shipped by all major browsers under active development (except for modules),
+so using ES2015 features is acceptable.
+
+At the time of this writing, ES2016 is not fully shipped in all major browsers.
+***
+
+### Self-Contained
+
+Tests must be **self-contained** and not depend on external network resources.
+
+Unless used by multiple test files, CSS and JavaScript should be inlined using
+`<style>` and `<script>` tags. Content shared by multiple tests should be
+placed in a `resources/` directory near the tests that share it. See below for
+using multiple origins in a test.
+
+### File Names
+
+Test **file names** should describe what is being tested.
+
+File names should use `snake-case`, but preserve the case of any embedded API
+names. For example, prefer `document-createElement.html` to
+`document-create-element.html`.
+
+### Character Encoding
+
+Tests should use the UTF-8 **character encoding**, which should be declared by
+`<meta charset=utf-8>`. A `<meta>` tag is not required (but is acceptable) for
+tests that only contain ASCII characters. This guideline does not apply when
+specifically testing encodings.
+
+The `<meta>` tag must be the first child of the document's `<head>` element. In
+documents that do not have an explicit `<head>`, the `<meta>` tag must follow
+the doctype.
+
+## Coding Style
+
+No coding style is enforced for layout tests. This section highlights coding
+style aspects that are not consistent across our layout tests, and suggests some
+defaults for unopinionated developers. When writing layout tests for a new part
+of the codebase, you can minimize review latency by taking a look at existing
+tests, and pay particular attention to these issues. Also beware of per-project
+style guides, such as the
+[ServiceWorker Tests Style guide](https://www.chromium.org/blink/serviceworker/testing).
+
+### Baseline
+
+[Google's JavaScript Style Guide](https://google.github.io/styleguide/jsguide.html)
+and
+[Google's HTML/CSS Style Guide](https://google.github.io/styleguide/htmlcssguide.xml)
+are a reasonable baseline for coding style defaults, with the caveat that layout
+tests do not use Google Closure or JSDoc.
+
+### == vs ===
+
+JavaScript's
+[== operator](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Comparison_Operators#Equality_())
+performs some
+[type conversion](http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/6.0/#sec-abstract-equality-comparison).
+on its arguments, which might be surprising to readers whose experience centers
+around C++ or Java. The
+[=== operator](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Comparison_Operators#Identity_strict_equality_())
+is much more similar to `==` in C++.
+
+Using `===` everywhere is an easy default that saves you, your reviewer, and any
+colleague that might have to debug test failures, from having to reason about
+[special cases for ==](http://dorey.github.io/JavaScript-Equality-Table/). At
+the same time, some developers consider `===` to add unnecessary noise when `==`
+would suffice. While `===` should be universally accepted, be flexible if your
+reviewer expresses a strong preference for `==`.
+
+### Let and Const vs Var
+
+JavaScript variable declarations introduced by
+[var](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/var)
+are hoisted to the beginning of their containing function, which may be
+surprising to C++ and Java developers. By contrast,
+[const](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/const)
+and
+[let](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/let)
+declarations are block-scoped, just like in C++ and Java, and have the added
+benefit of expressing mutability intent.
+
+For the reasons above, a reasonable default is to prefer `const` and `let` over
+`var`, with the same caveat as above.
+
+### Strict Mode
+
+JavaScript's
+[strict mode](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Strict_mode),
+activated by adding `'use strict';` to the very top of a script, helps catch
+some errors, such as mistyping a variable name, forgetting to declare a
+variable, or attempting to change a read-only property.
+
+Given that strict mode gives some of the benefits of using a compiler, adding it
+to every test is a good default. This does not apply when specifically testing
+sloppy mode behavior.
+
+Some developers argue that adding the `'use strict';` boilerplate can be
+difficult to remember, weighs down smaller tests, and in many cases running a
+test case is sufficient to discover any mistyped variable names.
+
+### Promises
+
+[Promises](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Promise)
+are a mechanism for structuring asynchronous code. When used correctly, Promises
+avoid some of the
+[issues of callbacks](http://colintoh.com/blog/staying-sane-with-asynchronous-programming-promises-and-generators).
+For these reasons, a good default is to prefer promises over other asynchronous
+code structures.
+
+When using promises, be aware of the
+[execution order subtleties](https://jakearchibald.com/2015/tasks-microtasks-queues-and-schedules/)
+associated with them. Here is a quick summary.
+
+* The function passed to `Promise.new` is executed synchronously, so it finishes
+  before the Promise is created and returned.
+* The functions passed to `then` and `catch` are executed in
+  _separate microtasks_, so they will be executed after the code that resolved
+  or rejected the promise finishes, but before any other event handler.
+
+### Classes
+
+[Classes](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Classes)
+are syntactic sugar for JavaScript's
+[prototypal inheritance](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Inheritance_and_the_prototype_chain).
+Compared to manipulating prototypes directly, classes offer a syntax that is
+more familiar to developers coming from other programming languages.
+
+A good default is to prefer classes over other OOP constructs, as they will make
+the code easier to read for many of your fellow Chrome developers. At the same
+time, most layout tests are simple enough that OOP is not justified.
+
+### Character Encoding
+
+When HTML pages do not explicitly declare a character encoding, browsers
+determine the encoding using an
+[encoding sniffing algorithm](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/syntax.html#determining-the-character-encoding)
+that will surprise most modern Web developers. Highlights include a default
+encoding that depends on the user's locale, and non-standardized
+browser-specific heuristics.
+
+The easiest way to not have to think about any of this is to add
+`<meta charset="utf-8">` to all your tests. This is easier to remember if you
+use a template for your layout tests, rather than writing them from scratch.
+
+## Tests with Manual Feedback
+
+Tests that rely on the testing APIs exposed by WPT or Blink will not work when
+loaded in a standard browser environment. When writing such tests, default to
+having the tests gracefully degrade to manual tests in the absence of the
+testing APIs.
+
+The
+[document on layout tests with manual feedback](./layout_tests_with_manual_fallback.md)
+describes the approach in detail and highlights the trade-off between added test
+weight and ease of debugging.