UnitTest on MVC controller HttpStatusCode not equal

Question

I'm doing a unit test on a simple controller checking that when a null ID is passed in that it returns a 400 code. However when I test this the result does not come back as being equal to a 400 error code.

My code:

int? nullID = null;
var edit = controller.Edit(nullID) as ActionResult;

var result = new HttpStatusCodeResult(400, null);

Assert.AreEqual(edit, result);

When I debug the test I get the expected result seen here:

Edit Result:

Expected Result:

Where am I going wrong on this?

Answer 1

Assert.AreEqual(a,b) is the same as Assert.IsTrue(Object.Equals(a,b))

HttpStatusCodeResult does not implement Equals so the call goes to the default Object.Equals() which in turn defaults to Object.RefrenceEquals(a,b))

If the current instance is a reference type, the Equals(Object) method tests for reference equality, and a call to the Equals(Object) method is equivalent to a call to the ReferenceEquals method. Reference equality means that the object variables that are compared refer to the same object.