Exercises: Unit Testing

In many of your previous coding tasks, you had to verify that your code worked before moving to the next step. This often required you to add console.log() statements to your code to check the value stored in a variable or returned from a function. This approach finds and fixes syntax, reference, or logic errors AFTER you write your code.

In this chapter, you learned how to use unit testing to solve coding errors. Even better, you learned how to PREVENT mistakes by writing test cases before completing the code. The exercises below offer practice with using tests to find bugs, and the studio asks you to implement TDD.

For the exercises, open javascript-projects/unit-testing/exercises to find the files you will need to get started.

Automatic Testing to Find Errors

Let’s begin with the following code in checkFive.js:

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   function checkFive(num){
      let result = '';
      if (num < 5){
         result = num + " is less than 5.";
      } else if (num === 5){
         result = num + " is equal to 5.";
      } else {
         result = num + " is greater than 5.";
      }

      return result;
   }

The function checks to see if a number is greater than, less than, or equal to 5. We do not really need a function to do this, but it provides good practice for writing test cases.

Note that the exercises directory also contains a tests directory for us.

  1. We need to add a few lines to checkFive.js and checkFive.test.js to get them to talk to each other.

    1. checkFive.test.js needs to access checkFive.js. Add a require statement to accomplish this.

    2. Make the checkFive function available to the spec file, by using module.exports.

    Check your solution

  2. Set up your first test for the checkFive function. In the checkFive.test.js file, add a describe function with one test clause:

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       const checkFive = require('../checkFive.js');

   describe("checkFive", function(){

      test("Descriptive feedback...", function() {
         //code here...
      });

   });

  3. Now write a test to see if checkFive produces the correct output when passed a number less than 5.

    1. First, replace Descriptive feedback... with a DETAILED message. This is the text that the user will see if the test fails. Do NOT skimp on this. Refer back to Specifications and Expectations section to review best practices.

    2. Define the variable output, and initialize it by passing a value of 2 to checkFive.

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         const checkFive = require('../checkFive.js');

   describe("checkFive", function(){

      test("Descriptive feedback...", function(){
         let output = checkFive(2);
      });

   });

    3. Now use the expect function to check the result:

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         const checkFive = require('../checkFive.js');

   describe("checkFive", function(){

      test("Descriptive feedback...", function(){
         let output = checkFive(2);
         expect(output).toEqual("2 is less than 5.");
      });

   });

    4. Run the test script and examine the results. The test should pass.

    5. Now change line 3 in checkFive.js to if (num > 5) and rerun the test.

    6. Change line 3 back.

    Note

    We do NOT need to check every possible value that is less than 5. Testing a single example is sufficient to check that part of the function.

    Check your solution

  4. Add two more test clauses inside describe—one to test what happens when checkFive is passed a value greater than 5, and the other to test when the value equals 5.

Try One on Your Own

Time for Rock, Paper, Scissors! The function in RPS.js takes the choices ('rock', 'paper', or 'scissors') of two players as its parameters. It then decides which player won the match and returns a string.

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   function whoWon(player1,player2){

      if (player1 === player2){
         return 'TIE!';
      }

      if (player1 === 'rock' && player2 === 'paper'){
         return 'Player 2 wins!';
      }

      if (player1 === 'paper' && player2 === 'scissors'){
         return 'Player 2 wins!';
      }

      if (player1 === 'scissors' && player2 === 'rock '){
         return 'Player 2 wins!';
      }

      return 'Player 1 wins!';
   }

  1. Set up the RPS.js and RPS.spec.js files to talk to each other.

    Check your solution

  2. Write a test in RPS.test.js to check if whoWon behaves correctly when the players tie (both choose the same option). Click “Run” and examine the output. SPOILER ALERT: The code for checking ties is correct in whoWon, so the test should pass. If it does not, modify your test statement.

  3. Write tests (one at a time) for each of the remaining cases. Run the tests after each addition, and modify the code as needed. There is one mistake in whoWon. You might spot it on your own, but try to use automated testing to identify and fix it.

    Check your solution

Bonus Mission

What if something OTHER than 'rock', 'paper', or 'scissors' is passed into the whoWon function? Modify the code to deal with the possibility.

Don’t forget to add another test clause in RPS.test.js to test for this case.