Ruby MiniTest Cheat Sheet, Unit and Spec reference

Ruby’s standard testing suite, MiniTest, is in dire need of a quick-and-handy reference for its syntax. I’ve put one together comparing the unit syntax (assert/refute) and the spec syntax (must/wont). You can see it below or download the Google Spreadsheet I made and roll your own sheet (HTML, XLS)

Test syntax

Unit Spec Arguments Examples

assert_empty
refute_empty

must_be_empty
wont_be_empty

obj, msg=nil

assert_empty []
refute_empty [1,2,3]
[].must_be_empty
[1,2,3].wont_be_empty


assert_equal
refute_equal

must_equal
wont_equal

exp, act, msg=nil

assert_equal 2, 2
refute_equal 2,1
2.must_equal 2
2.wont_equal 1


assert_in_delta
refute_in_delta

must_be_within_delta
wont_be_within_delta

exp, act, dlt=0.001, msg=nil

assert_in_delta 2012, 2010, 2
refute_in_delta 2012, 3012, 2
2012.must_be_within_delta 2010, 2
2012.wont_be_within_delta 3012, 2


must_be_close_to
wont_be_close_to

act, dlt=0.001, msg=nil

2012.must_be_close_to 2010, 2
2012.wont_be_close_to 3012, 2


assert_in_epsilon
refute_in_epsilon

must_be_within_epsilon
wont_be_within_epsilon

a, b, eps=0.001, msg=nil

assert_in_epsilon 1.0, 1.02, 0.05
refute_in_epsilon 1.0, 1.06, 0.05
1.0.must_be_within_epsilon 1.02, 0.05
1.0.wont_be_within_epsilon 1.06, 0.05


assert_includes
refute_includes

must_include
wont_include

collection, obj, msg=nil

assert_includes [1, 2], 2
refute_includes [1, 2], 3
[1, 2].must_include 2
[1, 2].wont_include 3


assert_instance_of
refute_instance_of

must_be_instance_of
wont_be_instance_of

klass, obj, msg=nil

assert_instance_of String, "bar"
refute_instance_of String, 100
"bar".must_be_instance_of String
100.wont_be_instance_of String


assert_kind_of
refute_kind_of

must_be_kind_of
wont_be_kind_of

klass, obj, msg=nil

assert_kind_of Numeric, 100
refute_kind_of Numeric, "bar"
100.must_be_kind_of Numeric
"bar".wont_be_kind_of Numeric


assert_match
refute_match

must_match
wont_match

exp, act, msg=nil

assert_match /\d/, "42"
refute_match /\d/, "foo"
"42".must_match /\d/
"foo".wont_match /\d/


assert_nil
refute_nil

must_be_nil
wont_be_nil

obj, msg=nil

assert_nil [].first
refute_nil [1].first
[].first.must_be_nil
[1].first.wont_be_nil


assert_operator
refute_operator

must_be
wont_be

o1, op, o2, msg=nil

assert_operator 1, :<, 2
refute_operator 1, :>, 2
1.must_be :<, 2
1.wont_be :>, 2


assert_output

must_output

stdout = nil, stderr = nil

assert_output("hi\n"){ puts "hi" }
Proc.new{puts "hi"}.must_output "hi\n"


assert_raises

must_raise

*exp

assert_raises(NoMethodError){ nil! }
Proc.new{nil!}.must_raise NoMethodError


assert_respond_to
refute_respond_to

must_respond_to
wont_respond_to

obj, meth, msg=nil

assert_respond_to "foo",:empty?
refute_respond_to 100, :empty?
"foo".must_respond_to :empty?
100.wont_respond_to :empty?


assert_same
refute_same

must_be_same_as
wont_be_same_as

exp, act, msg=nil

assert_same :foo, :foo
refute_same ['foo'], ['foo']
:foo.must_be_same_as :foo
['foo'].wont_be_same_as ['foo']


assert_silent

must_be_silent

-

assert_silent{ 1 + 1 }
Proc.new{ 1 + 1}.must_be_silent


assert_throws

must_throw

sym, msg=nil

assert_throws(:up){ throw :up}
Proc.new{throw :up}.must_throw :up

Test Setup

Unit Spec
setup() before(type = nil, &block)
teardown() after(type = nil, &block)

Mocks

via MiniTest::Mock

  • expect(name, retval, args=[]) – Expect that method name is called, optionally with args or a blk, and returns retval.

    Example:

    @mock.expect(:meaning_of_life, 42)
    @mock.meaning_of_life # => 42
    
    @mock.expect(:do_something_with, true, [some_obj, true])
    @mock.do_something_with(some_obj, true) # => true
    
    @mock.expect(:do_something_else, true) do |a1, a2|
       a1 == "buggs" && a2 == :bunny
    end
    
  • verify – Verify that all methods were called as expected. Raises MockExpectationError if the mock object was not called as expected.

Other syntax

  • def flunk(msg=nil)
  • def pass(msg=nil)
  • def skip(msg=nil, bt=caller)
  • def it (desc="anonymous", &block)
  • i_suck_and_my_tests_are_order_dependent!() – Call this at the top of your tests when you absolutely positively need to have ordered tests. In doing so, you’re admitting that you suck and your tests are weak. (TestCase public class method)
  • parallelize_me!() – Call this at the top of your tests when you want to run your tests in parallel. In doing so, you’re admitting that you rule and your tests are awesome.
  • make_my_diffs_pretty!() – Make diffs for this TestCase use pretty_inspect so that diff in assert_equal can be more details. NOTE: this is much slower than the regular inspect but much more usable for complex objects.

Tutorials

Reference

I'm a programmer journalist, currently teaching computational journalism at Stanford University. I'm trying to do my new blogging at blog.danwin.com.