7.1. Revisit Java Unit Testing¶

7.1.1. Objectives¶

Upon completion of this module, students will be able to:

Review the basics of a java class including fields, constructors, methods, parameters, and use of the keyword this
Review debugging code and code coverage
Implement variations for JUnit assert statements

7.1.2. Interactive: Introduction to Hokie Class [6:07]¶

In this discussion we will be revisiting good testing practices with an example class called “Hokie Class”.

Follow Along, Practice and Explore

In Eclipse, use the Project > Download Assignment… menu command to download the exercise project named “ex07.01-BuggyHokie”. Use this example to follow along with the following video. Feel free to experiment.

Refer to 01.02: Lab: LightBot for Beginners if you need to review the instructions for downloading Eclipse projects.

7.1.3. Checkpoint 1¶

7.1.4. Intro to Hokie Class JUnit Testing¶

7.1.4.1. A Note about Assert Statements¶

So far in the course when we want to test that a piece of code acted the way we wanted, we’d run a statement like:

assertThat(<something we want to check>).isEqualTo(<expected value>);

This is a more modern style that’s intended to be more readable. However, there is a different form of syntax you can use to create assertions:

assertEquals(<expected value>, <something we want to check>);

This second kind of assert statement is more commonly used today, but it can be tricky to use correctly. When using assertEquals, it can be easy to put the value we want to check first and the expected value second.

For example, say we wanted to check that a variable x was equal to 5.

int x = 4;
assertEquals(x, 5);

Writing like this would be syntactically correct, but potentially confusing because the failure message would read “Expected [4] but got [5]”. In reality, we were expecting 5 but got 4.

Videos in the second half of the course will be using this second, more commonly used syntax. You can continue to use either version. Below, is a table of assertions in both styles. Remember both the isEqualto() and assertEquals() methods use the equals method for the object parameters, be sure to understand how the corresponding equals method works for the objects being compared.

Assertions¶
Task	AssertThat Style	Traditional Style	Notes
Checking that `x` is equal to 5	`assertThat(x).isEqualTo(5);`	`assertEquals(5, x);`	While the new style has a `.isNotEqualTo()`, there is no `assertNotEquals()` in the old style
Check that a double `x` is equal to double `y`	`assertThat(x).isEqualTo(y, within(0.01));`	`assertEquals(y, x, 0.01);`
Checking that `x` is `true`	`assertThat(x).isTrue();`	`assertTrue(x);`
Checking that `x` is `false`	`assertThat(x).isFalse();`	`assertFalse(x);`
Checking that `x` is `null`	`assertThat(x).isNull();`	`assertNull(x);`
Checking that `x` is not `null`	`assertThat(x).isNotNull();`	`assertNotNull(x);`
Checking two object variables refer to the same space in memory	`assertThat(obj1).isSameAs(obj2);`	`assertSame(obj2, ob1);`

7.1.5. Interactive: Hokie Class JUnit Testing [19:37]¶

Follow Along and Engage

Download the slides corresponding to the video. Take notes on them as you watch the video, practice drawing diagrams yourself!

Video Slides 7.1.4.1-JavaUnitTesting.pdf

Masters of Engineering Bridge Course

Chapter 7 Testing and Exceptions

7.1. Revisit Java Unit Testing¶

7.1.1. Objectives¶

7.1.2. Interactive: Introduction to Hokie Class [6:07]¶

7.1.3. Checkpoint 1¶

7.1.4. Intro to Hokie Class JUnit Testing¶

7.1.4.1. A Note about Assert Statements¶

7.1.5. Interactive: Hokie Class JUnit Testing [19:37]¶

7.1.6. Checkpoint 2¶

7.1.7. Review of Writing JUnit Tests with student.TestCase [9:57]¶

7.1.7.1. Additional reference for writing JUnit Tests:¶

7.1.8. Checkpoint 3¶