Strategies for resolving cyclic dependencies in static ctors

[Graham St Jack]

On 24/03/11 15:19, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
>> Regarding unit tests - I have never been a fan of putting unit test code
>> into the modules being tested because:
>> * Doing so introduces stacks of unnecessary imports, and bloats the module.
>> * Executing the unittests happens during execution rather than during
>> the build.
>>
>> All unittests (as in the keyword) seem to have going for them is to be
>> an aid to documentation.
>>
>> What I do instead is put unit tests into separate modules, and use a
>> custom build system that compiles, links AND executes the unit test
>> modules (when out of date of course). The build fails if a test does not
>> pass.
>>
>> The separation of the test from the code under test has plenty of
>> advantages and no down-side that I can see - assuming you use a build
>> system that understands the idea. Some of the advantages are:
>> * No code-bloat or unnecessary imports.
>> * Much easier to manage inter-module dependencies.
>> * The tests can be fairly elaborate, and can serve as well-documented
>> examples of how to use the code under test.
>> * Since they only execute during the build, and even then only when out
>> of date, they can afford to be more complete tests (ie use plenty of cpu
>> time)
>> * If the code builds, you know all the unit tests pass. No need for a
>> special unittest build and manual running of assorted programs to see if
>> the tests pass.
>> * No need for special builds with -unittest turned on.
> Obviously, it wouldn't resolve all of your concerns, but I would point out
> that you can use version(unittest) to enclose stuff that's only supposed to be
> in the unit tests build. And that includes using version(unittest) on imports,
> avoiding having to import stuff which is only needed for unit tests during
> normal builds.
>
> - Jonathan M Davis
That is a good point, but as you say, it doesn't address all the concerns.

I would be interested to hear some success stories for the 
unittest-keyword approach. So far I can't see any up-side.

-- 
Graham St Jack