Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

James Newkirk: Variables in TestFixture classes should be static

.NET Addicted — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 12:18:00 GMT

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Eric Newton — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 19:00:00 GMT

Why not bite the bullet and fix it to do it right?

I get all over Microsoft people about this...

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Robert Watkins — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 20:13:00 GMT

I'm not familar with NUnit at all, but I've assumed you've used a Test interface ala JUnit.

If so, couldn't you take the approach of introducing a second TestCase implementation? If it's all interfaces, all you'll need to modify would be the creation code.

Not an anti-pattern

Cedric — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 21:56:00 GMT

When did dependency of test methods become an anti-pattern? Anybody who does some serious testing (not just unit testing) needs to have test methods that depend on each other. That's exactly what setUp() is, BTW, a method that needs to be invoked before any other test method. It's not hard to see the importance of extending this concept to test methods themselves. TestNG implements this with dependent methods and "skips", see http://beust.com/testng for more details.

If you want truly independent test methods, put them in different classes.

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

James Newkirk — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:29:00 GMT

I am no longer the admin of NUnit so I cannot fix it. I can recommend to Charlie that he fix it. A big problem would be backwards compatibility but that is Charlie's decision.

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

James Newkirk — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:31:00 GMT

Cedric, I think we will agree to disagree. SetUp runs prior to every test being executed. That is different than test-1 storing a result that test-2 depends upon. That case is what I would call an anti-pattern for unit testing. In other forms of testing it can be useful but for the types of testing that I use NUnit for I would not want to do that.

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Darren Oakey — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 00:55:00 GMT

Take a vote!

- I think most people would rather you just fixed the problem. Anything it breaks should always have been broken anyway.

James Newkirk blogs again

Darrell Norton's Blog — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 06:42:00 GMT

James Newkirk blogs again

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Cedric — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 04:13:00 GMT

James, I'm okay with invoking setUp() before each test method, but that's redundant with reinstantiating the test each time and it forces you to use statics just to work around this "design decision".

What would you think of a framework that forces you to declare all your fields static?

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Jonathan de Halleux — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 06:56:00 GMT

Hi,

Initially MbUnit would create a new fixture for each new test as in JUnit, but after facing a few problems, I finally went for the '1 fixture instance for all' solution for a number of reasons (although it breaks the axiom of atomicity between tests):

- TestFixtureSetUp and TestFixtureTearDown would have to be static which would seriously break exisiting code. This was the main why I move to '1 fixture' solution. You cannot expect people to use static variables in TestFixtureSetup unless you explicity enforce it static. If you don't enforce it static, people forget to use static variable and start to see some strange results, etc...

- I kind like to write 'this.' on the editor and choose the variable from the intellissense. With static variables, you just loose this cool feature. It's defail but after it's all about details.

Cheers,
Peli.

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Thomas Eyde — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 10:28:00 GMT

I really don't see why it matter. A new coder will soon learn how the testfixtures work when he sees tests that run and tests which don't. The static will not remove the potential dependencies.

Perch

ABS — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:58:00 GMT

Test Case Instancing with CFNUnitBridge

Trey's Brain Dump — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:05:00 GMT

Test Case Instancing with CFNUnitBridge

Trey's Brain Dump — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:06:00 GMT

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

AndrewSeven — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:40:00 GMT

There seems to be a reasonable concensus about how it should be, so why not make the change and keep a flag that allows people to keep the old behavior.

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

James — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 21:03:00 GMT

Yeah, I hate non-static nunit classes. Nice article!

re: Why variables in NUnit [TestFixture] classes should be static?

Charlie Poole — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 03:10:00 GMT

Google just alerted me about this thread... I invite everyone who cares how NUnit ought to do it to post on the nunit-developer list. That way, a number of folks who routinely put in their 2 cents about the direction of NUnit will get to see and comment on it.

FWIW, I don't see this as a difficult change to make, if people think it's the right thing to do.

XUnit for .NET

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:23:28 GMT

XUnit for .NET

XUnit for .NET — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:23:29 GMT

PingBack from http://www.itbuilder.com.mx/blogs/gabriel.oliva/post/XUnit-for-NET.aspx

xUnit.net

Joycode@Ab110.com — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:28:07 GMT

上个月，NUnit的作者James Newkirk 宣布推出了新的单元测试框架， xUnit.net 。他列出了从以前的单元测试框架得到的教训后所做的改动：每个测试方法都对应一个新对象实例。为提高测试的隔离性

Mocks and the Dangers of Overspecified Software

Ian Cooper [MVP] — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:28:56 GMT

I'll be back on LINQ architecture after the holidays, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some

James Newkirk s Blog Why variables in NUnit TestFixture classes | Outdoor Ceiling Fans

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:21:47 GMT

PingBack from http://outdoorceilingfansite.info/story.php?id=2386

James Newkirk s Blog Why variables in NUnit TestFixture classes | Outdoor Ceiling Fans

Sun, 31 May 2009 20:39:09 GMT

PingBack from http://outdoorceilingfansite.info/story.php?id=20022

James Newkirk s Blog Why variables in NUnit TestFixture classes | low cost car insurance

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:16:58 GMT

PingBack from http://lowcostcarinsurances.info/story.php?id=6887

James Newkirk s Blog Why variables in NUnit TestFixture classes | home lighting

James Newkirk s Blog Why variables in NUnit TestFixture classes | home lighting — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:48:31 GMT

PingBack from http://homelightingconcept.info/story.php?id=1564