how to unit test a class which creates new objects

Question

I'm using JUnit and Mockito to test some classes. The class itself creates an object from another class. A list called testList. Here my code:

public class A {
       private List<B> bList;

       //returns the bList
       public List<B> getBList() {
          return bList;
       }

       //checks the status by calling getStatus in class B
       public Status getStatus() {
          //status is an enum consists of PASSED and FAILED
          Status finalStatus = Status.PASSED;
          for (B be : this.getTestList()) {
             if (be.getStatus() != Status.PASSED) {
                finalStatus = Status.FAILED;
                break;
             }
          }
          return status;
       }
    }


    public Class B {
       private Status status = Status.FAILED;   

       public getStatus() {
          return status;
       }

       public void setStatus(Status status) {
          this.status = status;
       }
    }

What would be the best way to test the getStatus and getTestList methods in the class called Test.

Thank you very much....

Answer 1

I looked at your ClassA and I wondered how bList ever gets set to anything. Right now, there's no way for it to be anything other than null, which means that getStatus will throw a null pointer exception every time.

Your problem is that you are thinking about how to test methods instead of thinking about how to test behaviour. One reason why this is a problem is that your class has to fit in with the rest of your application in a certain way. To be sure that it does that, it needs certain behaviour, not certain details within each method. So the only meaningful test is one that checks the behaviour.

Perhaps more insidious is the fact that testing individual methods makes you focus on the code that you have in fact written. If you are looking at your code while you write your test, then your test becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You may have missed a whole set of behaviour that your class is required to provide; but if you only test the behaviour that your class does provide, you'll never know.

So, back to the problem in hand. I see four, maybe five behaviours that your class might be expected to fulfil. Maybe there are more - it's hard to tell if you only show us the code, and not the specification. You should write a test for each one. I strongly believe that the name of each test should describe the behaviour, rather than reflecting the name of the methods that the test uses. In this case, I might choose names like this.

public void statusIsPassedWhenEveryTestPassed()
public void statusIsFailedWhenEveryTestFailed()
public void statusIsFailedWhenSomeTestsPassedSomeFailed()
public void statusIsPassedWhenNoTests()
public void statusIsPassedWhenTestsNotSet() // this one currently fails

Within each test, I would create an object of ClassA, then do whatever has to be done to set the bList within the object. Lastly, I would call getStatus and assert that the return value is what I want. But the important point is that each test (except the last one) uses more than one method of ClassA, so these are not tests of an individual method.