Chamois - Fluent Assertions for C++

Chamois is a header-only fluent assertion library for C++11 which is designed to facilitate TDD and BDD through the provision of a natural language syntax. Chamois is inspired by the brilliant Fluent Assertions for .NET.

The primary way of expressing a test in Chamois is in the form:

Chamois::Assert::That(<actual_value>).Should().Be(<expected_value>);
Chamois::Assert::That(<actual_value>).Should().NotBe(<expected_value>);

Examples

Verify that an integer matches the expected value:

Chamois::Assert::That(10).Should().Be(10, L"10 is equal to 10");

Verify that two arrays are the same:

int A[5] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
int B[5] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
Chamois::Assert::ThatArray(A).Should().Be(B, L"arrays whould be equal");

Verify that two strings are equal:

Chamois::Assert::That("hello").Should().Be("hello", L"strings should be equal");

Or that a string starts with a prefix:

Chamois::Assert::That("hello").Should().StartWith("he", L"string should start with he");

Verify a boolean is true:

Chamois::Assert::That(true).Should().BeTrue(L"true is true");

Currently Supported Types

• Integral numerics (char, short, int, long, float, double)
• String (via std::string/std::wstring, including const char*/const wchar_t*)
• Arrays (simple arrays)
• Pointers (naked pointers only)
• Any object by reference that supports the equality operator

Support for more standard library containers, smart pointers, etc is planned.

Supported Test Frameworks

• Microsoft's C++ Unit Test Framework
• Google Test (GTest)
• Boost Unit Test Framework (UTF)
• Others may be added in the future

Usage

In the majority of cases, you include your test framework header first and then Chamois.hpp. Generally, you should ensure that your types are comparable (== and !=)

Microsoft C++ Unit Test

Occasionally, you may get compilation errors in your tests; more often than not this is due to the MS framework not knowing how to compare two values; this is due to the framework converting your type to a string for comparisions. To achieve this, you must provide a template specialization for the Microsoft::VisualStudio::CppUnitTestFramework::ToString method.

Boost Unit Test Framework

Ensure that you have included the unit_test.hpp file and defined BOOST_TEST_MODULE before including the Chamois.hpp header.

There are a few limitations in the Boost framework support at present. As a result, the Asserts fall back to a simple BOOST_CHECK( a == b ) and we lose the ability to see the expected and actual values.

BDD

Chamois includes a simple fluent BDD wrapper, allowing tests to be expressed in the "Given, When, Then" form using C++11's lambda functionality.

For example, testing a class behaviour directly:

DummyBank bank;

Chamois::bdd::Given::That([&]() { bank.balance_set(100); })
	.When([&]() { bank.Withdraw(80); })
	.Then([&]() { Chamois::Assert::That(bank.balance()).Should().Be(20); });

Or creating a class which performs the test actions:

DummyBankTest test;

Chamois::bdd::Given::That([&]() { test.The_starting_balance_is_100(); })
	.When([&]() { test.I_withdraw_80(); })
	.Then([&]() { test.The_balance_should_be_20(); });