QUnit Model, Test, and Assert Naming Conventions

Question

I am writing QUnit tests for my JavaScript web app. After reading the QUnit API documentation I was unable to find any standards for labeling modules, tests, and asserts.

The API descriptions and examples are pretty rudimentary:

Module name: Label for this group of tests. Example: module("group a");

Test title: Title of unit being tested. Example: test("hello test", function(){});

Assert message: A short description of the assertion. Example: ok(true, "true succeeds");

I found articles out there regarding Unit Tests at large: What are some popular naming conventions for Unit Tests? and Unit test naming best practices.

However, I was hoping there was an established/generally accepted standard that was specific to QUnit's Module->Test->Assert pattern. Are there any?

Answer 1

No matter the test framework you use, and no matter if you are writing client side or server side unit tests, the main concern on adopt some "name convention" is to make sure that the test name clearly states to everyone what is the system and the behavior under testing.

Let's suppose we want to test this code:

var MyClass = (function () {
    function MyClass() {
        this.defaultMessage = "Hello person without a name";
    }
    MyClass.prototype.getHelloMessage = function (firstName, lastName) {
        if (!firstName && !lastName) {
            return this.defaultMessage;
        }
        var message = "Hello";
        if (lastName) {
            message += " " + lastName;
        }
        if (firstName) {
            if (lastName) {
                message += ",";
            }
            message += " " + firstName;
        }    
        return message;
    };        
    return MyClass;
})();

    The above code just format a simple message with the given input parameters, if any, and return a default message if no parameters specified.

The module name for me would be the class name and a separator to make the list of test names more readable:

QUnit.module("MyClass tests - ");

One could simple name the test:

test("getHelloMessage test", function () {}

and assert all expectations in one text.

I prefer a more verbose approach, that would be clear to understand the purpose of each test:

test("getHelloMessage without input parameters should return default message", function () {});
test("getHelloMessage with only lastName should not display a comma", function () {});
test("getHelloMessage with only firstName should not display a comma", function () {});

This way each test has a clear purpose, they will be kept as small as needed, and when one test fail it is easy to understand what part of your code has been affected by the latest changes.

The good standard is the one that all members of your team agree that will help everyone to find and solve bugs, and also to help them write better unit tests.