TestBench is a principled test framework for Ruby aiming to offer precisely what is needed to test well-designed code effectively and easily. For more information, visit TestBench's website: http://test-bench.software.

> gem install test_bench

# Gemfile
source 'https://rubygems.org'

gem 'test_bench', group: :development

# Or

group :development do
  gem 'test_bench'
end

Place a test initialization file at test/test_init.rb.

# test/test_init.rb

# Load the code to be tested
require_relative '../lib/my/code.rb'

# Load TestBench
require 'test_bench'

# Activate TestBench
TestBench.activate

Activating TestBench with TestBench.activate makes the core DSL available in test files.

The effect of activating TestBench is very limited. It adds TestBench's core API methods to Ruby's main object, which is the Ruby script runner. Activating TestBench has no effects on any other objects or classes in the Ruby system except for the main script runner.

It's not strictly necessary to activate TestBench in order to use it. See the Using TestBench Without Monkey Patching recipe for specifics.

At the top of every test file, load the test_init.rb file.

# test/automated/some_test.rb

require_relative '../test_init'

context "Some Example" do
  test "Some test" do
    assert(true)
  end
end

TestBench doesn't require the use of any special test runner. It's designed so that tests can be executed using nothing more than Ruby. There's no need to create or maintain plugins for editors or CI servers. It's just Ruby.

Run test files like any script file by passing the file name to the ruby command.

> ruby test/automated/some_test.rb
Some Context
  Some test
  Some other test
  Some failing test
    test/automated/some_test.rb:13:in `block (2 levels) in <top (required)>': Assertion failed (TestBench::Fixture::AssertionFailure)

Runs a batch of files and directories.

TestBench::Run.(*paths, exclude_file_pattern: nil)

Here is an example of the batch runner being invoked from a file named automated.rb located in the test directory.

# test/automated.rb

TestBench::Run.()

For more information on the batch runner, visit its documentation page.

In addition to being able to run tests using the raw ruby executable, TestBench also provides it's own command line executable that offers a bit more power.

The bench executable can be used to run individual test files or directories containing test files.

To run a single test file, specify the file path as a command line argument.

> bench test/automated/some_test.rb

To run a directory of test files, and its subdirectories, specify the directory path as a command line argument.

> bench test/automated/some_directory/

By default, when the bench commend is executed with no arguments, it will run all the test files under test/automated.

This default can be changed by setting the environment variable TEST_BENCH_TESTS_DIRECTORY.

For more information on the command line runner, visit its documentation page.

TestBench's core API is just a handful of methods, including context, test, assert, comment, and fixture. Other methods, such as refute and assert_raises are built in terms of the core methods.

The context method establishes a context around a block of test code.

context "Some Context" do
  test "Some test" do
    # ...
  end
end

The blocks given to context can further subdivide the test file into nested, sub-contexts.

context "Some Context" do
  context "Some Inner Context" do
    test "Some test" do
      # ...
    end
  end
end

Ruby's lexical scoping allows variables defined in outer contexts to be available within nested contexts, but not available outside of the outer context.

context "Some Context" do
  context "Some Inner Context" do
    some_variable = 'some_value'

    context "Some Deeper Context" do
      puts some_variable
      # => "some_value"
    end
  end

  puts some_variable
  # => NameError (undefined local variable or method `some_variable' for main:Object)
end

Tests are titled blocks of code that perform assertions, typically one per test.

context "Some Context" do
  test "Some test" do
    assert(true)
  end

  test "Some other test" do
    assert(true)
  end
end

Titles are optional for both contexts and tests. Contexts without a title serve solely as lexical scopes and do not effect the test output in any way; nothing is printed and the indentation is not changed. Tests without titles are treated similarly, but if a test fails, a title of Test is used to indicate the test failure. Also, both contexts and tests can also be skipped by omitting the block argument.

context "Some Context" do
  context do
    some_variable = 'some_value'

    test do
      assert(some_variable == 'some_value')
    end
  end

  context do
    some_variable = 'some_other_value'

    test do
      assert(some_variable == 'some_other_value')
    end
  end
end

Contexts and tests can be deactivated by prefixing them with the underscore character: _context and _test.

They're useful for temporarily disabling a context or test when debugging, troubleshooting, or doing exploratory testing.

context "Some Context" do

  # This context doesn't run
  _context "Some Inner Context" do
    test "Some test" do
      assert(true)
    end
  end

  context "Some Other Inner Context" do

    # This test doesn't run
    _test "Some test" do
      assert(true)
    end
  end
end

WARNING: A test run that includes deactivated contexts or tests will fail. A CI build that includes deactivated tests will result in a broken build.

Deactivated tests and contexts should never be checked in to version control. Checking in deactivated test code should be seen as a development process failure.

This behavior can be changed by setting the TEST_BENCH_FAIL_DEACTIVATED_TESTS environment variable to off.

Test output is intended to be read by users.

Often, the text printed by context and test sufficiently expresses what behavior the tests are expecting out of the test.

Comments can also be included in test code in order to provide the user with additional output.

context "Some Context" do
  comment "Some comment"
  comment "Other comment"

  # ...
end

TestBench offers four assertion methods: assert, refute, assert_raises, and refute_raises.

The assert and refute methods accept a single parameter. The value of the parameter must either be true or false, or truthy.

assert(true)               # Passes
assert(false)              # Fails
assert(1 == 1)             # Passes
assert(some_object.nil?)   # Passes if some_object is nil
assert(1 > 1)              # Fails

refute(true)               # Fails
refute(false)              # Passes
refute(1 != 1)             # Passes
refute(!some_object)       # Passes if some_object is *not* nil

To test that a block of code raises an error, use assert_raises. To test that a block of code does not raise an error, use refute_raises.

Either method takes a block argument, and the respective assertion will either pass or fail based on whether the block raises an error when it's evaluated.

# Passes
assert_raises do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

# Fails
assert_raises do

end

# Passes
refute_raises do

end

# Fails
refute_raises do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

If a class is given as the first positional parameter, the block must raise an instance of the given class.

# Passes
assert_raises(RuntimeError) do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

# Fails
assert_raises(SomeOtherError) do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

# Passes
refute_raises(RuntimeError) do
  raise SomeOtherError
end

# Fails
refute_raises(SomeOtherError) do
  raise SomeOtherError
end

To match the raised error's message, the error message can be specified as the second argument.

# Passes
assert_raises(RuntimeError, 'Some error message') do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

# Fails
assert_raises(RuntimeError, 'Some error message') do
  raise 'Some other error message'
end

# Passes
refute_raises(RuntimeError, 'Some error message') do
  raise 'Some other error message'
end

# Fails
refute_raises(RuntimeError, 'Some error message') do
  raise 'Some error message'
end

For more information on assertions, including block-form assertions, visit the documentation page.

To allow for generalized test abstractions, the TestBench core methods (context, test, assert, refute, comment, etc.) can be made available to any Ruby class or object. To add the methods to a class, mix in TestBench::Fixture:

class SomeFixture
  include TestBench::Fixture

  def call
    context "Some Context" do
      test "Example passing test" do
        assert(true)
      end

      test "Example failing test" do
        refute(true)
      end
    end
  end
end

For more information on fixtures, visit the documentation page.

For a comprehensive list of changes, see Changes

• Removed interpretation of VERBOSE environment variable

• Added TestBench.context

• When output styling is disabled, the default output disambiguates skipped tests and contexts from passing tests and contexts, respectively

• Public release of v1.0.0.0

Test Bench is licensed under the MIT license

Copyright © Nathan Ladd