Re: Discussing a helper class to migrate from JUnit

[Robert Schuster <theBohemian@gmx.net>]

Hello Audrius,
AFAIK a solution that allows JUnit tests being run as part of mauve is 
frequently discussed here but there was no result yet.

Former discussions could IMHO not solve this problem:
JUnit uses reflection and therefore depends on a stable support for this 
mechanism. Mauve as a framework for testing the basic functionality of a 
VM could therefore not depend on a working reflection API.

Despite from that I like the idea of faking a JUnit environment to run 
such tests. However that environment should be created with only minimal 
dependency on the VM.

My suggestion is that for each testcase TC you have to:
       * scan the class file of TC with something like javap
       * generate Java source code that calls the public methods of TC, 
call that an adapter class AC
       * compile the AC
       * run the mauve test via the AC

These are only basic thoughts.


Meskauskas Audrius wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Following the rules of the Mauve project, I would like to discuss the 
> following addition to Mauve before submission:
>
> Motivation:
> JUnit is another popular testing suite. Some people may already have a 
> JUnit tests written and need to adapt them for Mauve. Some code 
> generators produce tests for JUnit and not for Mauve. In this context, 
> it seems good to have an additional helper class for easier conversion 
> of JUnit TestCase into Mauve Testlet. It is possible to have the 
> individual helper class as a part of the test itself. However it may 
> be better to have it in a more public place where it could be shared.
>
> Suggestion:
> 1. The JUnit TestCase calls static methods like assertTrue(..), 
> assertEquals(..) and so on. The helper class can have the identically 
> named non-static methods, just delegating the call to the current 
> instance of TestHarness.

I think that the helper class to live in the same package as the real 
JUnit classes.

>
> 2. The JUnit TestCase has a multiple public non static parameterless 
> methods, starting with test.... These methods are found and called 
> using reflection. The helper class can do just the same.

IMHO reflection is considered high-tech which may be broken/unsupported 
on a VM.


cu
Robert