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B.2 Test frameworks
The test frameworks are the bases from which we start writing our tests. Like mock frameworks, there are many to choose from, and this competition has brought lots of innovation with it. Here are some of the available frameworks:
Microsoft’s Unit Testing Framework
NUnit
MbUnit
Gallio
xUnit
Pex
Let’s look at each in turn.
B.2.1 Microsoft’s Unit Testing Framework
Microsoft’s Unit Testing Framework (also known as MSTest) comes bundled with any version of Visual Studio .NET 2008 professional or above. It includes basic features that are similar to NUnit, but it runs a little slower. The upcoming versions of Visual Studio (2010) will add a lot of power to this framework, but you can use it today as easily as NUnit.
One big problem with this framework is that it’s not as easily extensible as the other testing frameworks. To see how cumbersome it is to add a simple attribute, see the discussion of YUnit on MSDN at http:// code.msdn.microsoft.com/yunit.
One big plus for this framework is that it’s integrated into the Visual Studio Team System tool suite and provides good reporting, coverage, and build automation out of the box. If your company uses Team System, I highly suggest using MSTest as your test framework because of the good integration possibilities.
You can get MSTest with Visual Studio.
B.2.2 NUnit
NUnit is currently the de facto test framework for unit test developers in .NET. It’s open source and is in almost ubiquitous use among those
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who do unit testing. I cover NUnit deeply in chapter 2. NUnit is easily extensible and has a large user base and forums. I’d recommend it to anyone starting out with unit testing in .NET. I still use it today.
You can get NUnit at http://nunit.com.
B.2.3 MbUnit
MbUnit is fully open source, and the “mb” stands for “model-based” testing. It started out as a competitor to NUnit but soon zoomed past NUnit in terms of features and abilities.
MbUnit is easily extensible and supports lots of interesting test attributes, such as Repeat and Timeout. MbUnit has its own UI and console runners that also support running tests written in NUnit. If you’re looking for something more in your current test framework, MbUnit is a good step up from NUnit. I almost never have to use such features myself, but if you’re mixing integration testing and unit testing with the same framework, MbUnit is a good fit.
You can get MbUnit at www.mbunit.com.
B.2.4 Gallio
Gallio is an open source platform for running tests written in most (if not all) unit test frameworks in .NET, from NUnit to MSTest. Gallio is also extensible, and you can create your own custom test runner using it. It has plugins for Visual Studio .NET, which can highlight coding errors relating to tests and other things. It’s still not in very popular use, but it’s built by the same people who maintain MbUnit, and it’s a fully working, robust product that seems to have been in an endless beta cycle for the past year or so.
You can get Gallio at www.gallio.org.
B.2.5 xUnit
xUnit is an open source test framework, developed in cooperation with one of the original authors of NUnit, Jim Newkirk. It’s a minimalist and elegant test framework that tries to get back to basics by having fewer features, not more, than the other frameworks, and by supporting different names on its attributes.