Why does the "Assert" class have so many seemingly redundant methods? When should each be used?

Question

So I see that Assert has dozens of methods that seem to do essentially the same thing.

Assert.IsFalse(     a == b );
Assert.IsTrue(      a != b );
Assert.AreNotEqual( a,   b );

Why? Is it just to be more explicit? When should the various methods be used? Is there an offical best practices document?

Answer 1

The difference between IsFalse and IsTrue is readability. AreNotEqual allows a better error message to be presented when the test fails. IsTrue for example will just tell you that the answer was supposed to be true and was really false. AreNotEqual will show the two values that were compared in its error message.

Answer 2

Short answer: For readability.

Slightly longer answer:

Your tests are also code, and in terms of intent are as important as the code you are testing. As such, you want to make the intent of the test as clear as possible. Sometimes that means you use IsFalse, sometimes it means using IsTrue.