Why you should use Test::Class

 

Test::Class attempts to provide simple xUnit testing that integrates simply with the standard perl *.t style of testing. In particular:

• All the advantages of xUnit testing. You can easily create test fixtures and isolate tests. It provides a framework that should be familiar to people who have used other xUnit style test systems.
• It is built with Test::Builder and should co-exist happily with all other Test::Builder based modules. This makes using test classes in *.t scripts, and refactoring normal tests into test classes, much simpler because:
  • You do not have to learn a new set of new test APIs and can continue using ok(), like(), etc. from Test::More and friends.
  • Skipping tests and todo tests are supported.
  • You can have normal tests and Test::Class classes co-existing in the same *.t script. You don't have to re-write an entire script, but can use test classes as and when it proves useful.
• You can easily package your tests as classes/modules, rather than *.t scripts. This simplifies reuse, documentation and distribution, encourages refactoring, and allows tests to be extended by inheritance.
• You can have multiple setup/teardown methods. For example have one teardown method to clean up resources and another to check that class invariants still hold.
• It can make running tests faster. Once you have refactored your *.t scripts into classes they can be easily run from a single script. This gains you the (often considerable) start up time that each separate *.t script takes.

Why you should not use Test::Class

• If your *.t scripts are working fine then don't bother with Test::Class. For simple test suites it is almost certainly overkill. Don't start thinking about using Test::Class until issues like duplicate code in your test scripts start to annoy.
• If you are distributing your code it is yet another module that the user has to have to run your tests (unless you distribute it with your test suite of course).
• If you are used to the TestCase/Suite/Runner class structure used by JUnit and similar testing frameworks you may find Test::Unit more familiar (but try reading "HELP FOR CONFUSED JUNIT USERS" before you give up).