Why does this test method fail?

Question

Here's my test function (c#, visual studio 2010):

[TestMethod()]
public void TestGetRelevantWeeks()
{
List<sbyte> expected = new List<sbyte>() { 2, 1, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45 };
List<sbyte> actual = new List<sbyte>() { 2, 1, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45 };
Assert.AreEqual<List<sbyte>>(expected, actual);
}

Exception: Failed TestGetRelevantWeek Assert.AreEqual failed.
Expected:System.Collections.Generic.List 1[System.SByte].
Actual:System.Collections.Generic.List 1[System.SByte].

---

Does AreEqual only check equality of the reference, not the contents?

But then, the exception message would be confusing. I also couldn't find a documentation of the default equality comparer for a generic list.

Could you help to clarify why the test fails and what would be solutions for testing the equality of the contents of both lists?

Kind regards

Answer 1

The Assert.AreEqual() method does a reference equality test as you expected.

Assuming you're using .Net 3.5 or above, you can do this:

using System.Linq;

Assert.IsTrue(expected.SequenceEqual(actual));

Edit: Clarified when this option is available.