catchorg / catchorg/Catch2

Seperate `REQUIRE` (total show-stopper) for checking unit-test integrity

Open
#1,811 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Dominant language
C++
Stars
21.5k
Forks
3.5k
Avg merge
3d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
2

Description

Sometimes unit tests need to perform their own calculations to compare against those of the tested code. For example, in my use-case, I check that an optimised simulator is producing the same results as a slow direct mathematical evaluation.

This often requires some quick checks of the internal testing code, to check pre- and post-conditions of the helper functions, to help distinguish a bad test from an error in the tested code. This is especially helpful for external contributors writing their own unit tests which use the helper funcitons.

Right now, I use `REQUIRE` in the testing, and in checking the integrity of the internal code. Here's an example; a unit-test which performs its own matrix calculations in order to replicate a tested code's result (which is computed in an entirely different way), and utilises internal testing code:
```C++
vector> getReferenceSum(vector> a, vector> b) {
REQUIRE( a.size() == b.size() );
vector> s = a;
for (size_t r=0; r> a = ...
vector> b = ....

vector> librarySum = superAwesomeFancyFunc(a, b);
vector> referenceSum = getReferenceSum(a, b);

REQUIRE( librarySum == referenceSum );
}
```

This means though that in the ultimately performed unit-test, the checking of pre & post-conditions of the helper functions is included in the statistics of the unit-tests (total number of assertions passed).

Instead, it would be great if there was a seperate "meta" macro, which asserts conditions the test-author believes is tautological, and which when failed (indicating bad unit-testing), stops all testing.

E.g. something like

```C++
DEMAND( cond )
```

Is there currently any way to do this, or at least to seperate the statistics of 'internal' `REQUIRE`s from the 'testing' `REQUIRE`s?
Otherwise, is there a way to write custom macros and 'hook' them into Catch's control-flow (rather than just having them force-exit)?

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

The issue names no repository files or tests. Start by reviewing Catch2's existing REQUIRE implementation and assertion statistics/control-flow hooks; done would require a documented design and implementation for a separate meta assertion mechanism or an equivalent supported way to exclude internal checks from test statistics.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
testing-qa
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.