Unit testing in C++

Question

How do I get started doing unit testing in C++ ?

I have used Junit when coding in Java and found it very useful. Is there something similar in C++ ? What do you recommend ?

@Kim: Yes, and this greate new service led me here, thanks to this question. SO is not just questions and answers, it's also having the community's opinion and feedback about the answers. — ereOn, Mar 28 '11 at 08:45

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

11

Here are similar questions that you may want to look at:

I recommend you check out Google's unit testing framework in addition to CppUnit.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

1
1

answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:40

David Crow

16,077
8
42
34

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '09 at 16:49

I recently wrote a 5-part series of blog posts covering unit testing in C++ with boost. It gives step by step instructions for how to do this in Visual Studio.

Part 1: how to start making unit tests in C++ with Boost.Test.
Part 2: the assertion framework provided by Boost.Test in the context of a simple programming exercise that demonstrates test-driven development.
Part 3: continuing with test-driven development to complete the functionality of the PrimeFactors::Generate method.
Part 4: test-driven UI development.
Part 5: the facilities in Boost.Test for sharing common setup and teardown actions between tests and organizing tests into suites.

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:35

7

Check CppUnit, it's the jUnit port to C++.

answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:35

Christian C. Salvadó

807,428
183
922
838

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 23 '08 at 03:15

7

UnitTest++, legend has it that UnitTest++ was written by the author of this comparison of unit testing frameworks.

answered Dec 23 '08 at 03:15

oz10

153,307
27
93
128

+1, I use this framework and can recommend it! It's more than just a legend. The 1.0 release is here: http://gamesfromwithin.com/unittest-v10-released (on the same blog as the above link...) – Kleist Nov 11 '11 at 11:50

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:40

6

Good round up here.

We use Boost.Test, and we are able to do good cross platform continuous integration.

answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:40

csexton

24,061
15
54
57

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:40

4

Take a look at this page: http://gamesfromwithin.com/?p=29

It is the best comparison of the C++ frameworks. I personally prefer Boost.Test.

answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:40

Kazade

1,297
2
15
25

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 23 '08 at 03:19

3

I haven't been happy with any C++ unit testing framework. Since C++ doesn't have reflection, it's hard to write convenient unit testing tools. CxxTest is about as good as I've found. I've used it on some projects, but usually I just write my own tests either without a framework or using a crude framework I wrote myself.

answered Dec 23 '08 at 03:19

John D. Cook

29,517
10
67
94

You might want to check out CATCH (link from my answer) – philsquared Dec 28 '10 at 03:08

score 3 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 30 '16 at 08:21

3

I just started using googletest (https://github.com/google/googletest/). Its simple to integrate and I haven't had any problems with it.

edited Dec 30 '16 at 08:21

jxramos

7,356
6
57
105

answered Dec 29 '08 at 07:22

Jeff M

700
3
10

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:42

My personal favorite is TUT. The two main reasons are that 1) it doesn't force Java-isms on you but takes advantage of what C++ is, and 2) you have control over it, writing the executable (I have a template I used), the reporting etc (provides a stream based version by default).

To me it very much follows the philosophy of KISS, 2 headers, no macros, no parsers, just plain old C++ code with a tiny bit of skeleton code.

http://tut-framework.sourceforge.net/

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 28 '10 at 03:07

I've just pushed my own framework, CATCH, out there. It's still under development but I believe it already surpasses most other frameworks. Different people have different criteria but I've tried to cover most ground without too many trade-offs. Take a look at my linked blog entry for a taster. My top five features are:

Header only
Auto registration of function and method based tests
Decomposes standard C++ expressions into LHS and RHS (so you don't need a whole family of assert macros).
Support for nested sections within a function based fixture
Name tests using natural language - function/ method names are generated

It also has Objective-C bindings.

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:38

1

Without knowing which platform/compiler you are targetting, I can only make a general recommendation. I've used this (CppTest) one quite successfully in the past. There's a simple framework called UnitTest++ that looks interesting.

answered Dec 22 '08 at 20:38

Pete OHanlon

9,086
2
29
28

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 23 '08 at 08:26

1

Aeryn is another C++ Testing Framework worth looking at

answered Dec 23 '08 at 08:26

David Sykes

48,469
17
71
80

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Feb 12 '09 at 22:17

1

Have a look at CUnitWin32. It includes an example.

answered Feb 12 '09 at 22:17

Dushara

616
1
5
25

Unit testing in C++

13 Answers13

Linked