[Freekode-public] Tests (was: Re: Premake)

[Pedro A. <pa...@dc...>]

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:49:09 +0100
Guilherme Santos <gui...@gm...> wrote:

> Speaking on tests.
> I'm using CppUnit to keep my tests organized (I have only one at this
> moment). Another advantage is that is easy to add or remove tests and
> keep everything running.
> 
> But this approach has several disadvantages too.
> It's implemented in C++ and if we think in (possible) future
> platforms such as mobile, it could be more complicated to get the
> framework compiling for that platforms.
> 
> Anyway, it's easy to copy the tests code and use it to build a
> simpler test unit.
> 
> What are you planning to test the freekode?
> If you guys think it's better to build another approach, it's easy
> for me to copy the code I have done.
> 
> For the moment, I'll continue to use the cppunit to test my stuff :)
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Guilherme Santos 

Hi Guilherme,

I've also been thinking about this, and to make the code as portable as
possible we probably should create our own mini test suite in ANSI C
and expand it as need arises. 

I've had some experience testing C code with Check and although it's
cleverly designed to avoid C's pitfalls in regards to testing code, it
falls a bit short on portability for more exotic platforms because it
relies on certain UNIX functions like fork() and vsnprintf(). A few
years back I tried porting it to a DEC Alpha workstation only to
realize that not all UNIX environments have vsnprintf()...  

Since openKode targets embedded platforms I'm expecting that we can't
count on much more than a working ANSI C compiler.
 
So anyway, back to the idea of a minimalistic test framework what do you
guys prefer:

 a) Each test is an executable in a special "test dir" and a test runner
app runs each test it finds via system() and reports the output.

 b) Each test is a function (usually a macro) and the test runner just
calls the functions iteratively (this usually requires a fork() to
avoid a bad test crashing the test runner)

I'm currently leaning towards option a) but I can use whatever
alternative you feel more comfortable with.

Cheers,
p.