I follow the MVP pattern + UseCases to interact with a Model layer. This is a method in a Presenter I want to test:
fun loadPreviews() {
launch(UI) {
val items = previewsUseCase.getPreviews() // a suspending function
println("[method] UseCase items: $items")
println("[method] View call")
view.showPreviews(items)
}
}
My simple BDD test:
fun <T> givenSuspended(block: suspend () -> T) = BDDMockito.given(runBlocking { block() })
infix fun <T> BDDMockito.BDDMyOngoingStubbing<T>.willReturn(block: () -> T) = willReturn(block())
@Test
fun `load previews`() {
// UseCase and View are mocked in a `setUp` method
val items = listOf<PreviewItem>()
givenSuspended { previewsUseCase.getPreviews() } willReturn { items }
println("[test] before Presenter call")
runBlocking { presenter.loadPreviews() }
println("[test] after Presenter call")
println("[test] verify the View")
verify(view).showPreviews(items)
}
The test passes successfully but there's something weird in the log. I expect it to be:
But it turns out to be:
What's the reason of this behaviour and how should I fix it?
I've found out that it's because of a CoroutineDispatcher. I used to mock UI context with EmptyCoroutineContext. Switching to Unconfined has solved the problem
The name of the question suggests that there'll be an exhaustive explanation how to unit test a suspending function. So let me explain a bit more.
The main problem with testing a suspending function is threading. Let's say we want to test this simple function that updates a property's value in a different thread:
class ItemUpdater(val item: Item) {
fun updateItemValue() {
launch(Dispatchers.Default) { item.value = 42 }
}
}
We need to somehow replace Dispatchers.Default with an another dispatcher only for testing purposes. There're two ways how we can do that. Each has its pros and cons, and which one to choose depends on your project & style of coding:
1. Inject a Dispatcher.
class ItemUpdater(
val item: Item,
val dispatcher: CoroutineDispatcher // can be a wrapper that provides multiple dispatchers but let's keep it simple
) {
fun updateItemValue() {
launch(dispatcher) { item.value = 42 }
}
}
// later in a test class
@Test
fun `item value is updated`() = runBlocking {
val item = Item()
val testDispatcher = Dispatchers.Unconfined // can be a TestCoroutineDispatcher but we still keep it simple
val updater = ItemUpdater(item, testDispatcher)
updater.updateItemValue()
assertEquals(42, item.value)
}
2. Substitute a Dispatcher.
class ItemUpdater(val item: Item) {
fun updateItemValue() {
launch(DispatchersProvider.Default) { item.value = 42 } // DispatchersProvider is our own global wrapper
}
}
// later in a test class
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// --- This block can be extracted into a JUnit Rule and replaced by a single line ---
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@Before
fun setUp() {
DispatchersProvider.Default = Dispatchers.Unconfined
}
@After
fun cleanUp() {
DispatchersProvider.Default = Dispatchers.Default
}
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@Test
fun `item value is updated`() = runBlocking {
val item = Item()
val updater = ItemUpdater(item)
updater.updateItemValue()
assertEquals(42, item.value)
}
Both of them are doing the same thing - they replace the original Dispatchers.Default in test classes. The only difference is how they do that. It's really really up to you which of them to choose so don't get biased by my own thoughts below.
IMHO: The first approach is a little too much cumbersome. Injecting dispatchers everywhere will result into polluting most of the classes' constructors with an extra DispatchersWrapper only for a testing purpose. However Google recommends this way at least for now. The second style keeps things simple and it doesn't complicate the production classes. It's like an RxJava's way of testing where you have to substitute schedulers via RxJavaPlugins. By the way, kotlinx-coroutines-test will bring the exact same functionality someday in future.