unit testing private methods

[jimgardener]

hi
i am trying out PrivilegedAccessor class (of http://sourceforge.net/projects/privaccessor/)
along with junit to test some private methods that process double[]
[] .I think this uses reflection to access private methods


public class MyClass {
private double[] processArray(double[] inarray){
double[] ret=new double[inarray.length];
for(int i=0;i<inarray.length;i++){
ret=inarray+100.0;
}
return ret;
}
}

here is the testcase class
<code>
import junit.framework.TestCase;
import junit.extensions.PrivilegedAccessor;

public class MyClassTest extends TestCase{
public MyClassTest(String name){
super(name);
}
public void testMyClass()throws Exception{
MyClass mc=new MyClass();
assertNotNull(mc);

double[] inputarray=new double[]{1.1,2.2,3.3,4.4};
double[] ans=new double[]{101.1,102.2,103.3,104.4};
double[] outputarray=(double[])
(PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(mc,"processArray(double[])",inputarray));
assertEquals(outputarray,ans);

}
}

<code>

when i run the test ,i get an error message like

java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: Method 'processArray(double[])'s
parameter nr1 (double[]) not found

This error originates at the call PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(..)
can someone tell me why this happens?

thanks
jim

 

[Andreas Kutschera]

hi
i am trying out PrivilegedAccessor class (of
http://sourceforge.net/projects/privaccessor/) along with junit to test
some private methods that process double[]
[] .I think this uses reflection to access private methods


public class MyClass {
private double[] processArray(double[] inarray){
double[] ret=new double[inarray.length];
for(int i=0;i<inarray.length;i++){
ret=inarray+100.0;
}
return ret;
}
}

here is the testcase class
<code>
double[] outputarray=(double[])
(PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(mc,"processArray(double[])",inputarray));
assertEquals(outputarray,ans);
<code>

when i run the test ,i get an error message like

java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: Method 'processArray(double[])'s
parameter nr1 (double[]) not found

This error originates at the call PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(..)
can someone tell me why this happens?

Looking at the source code, it looks like PrivilegedAccessor cannot handle
arrays.
When I run your example, it breaks because it cannot find a class by the
name of "double[]" (yes, the "[]" is part of the wanted class name).

So you probably have two choices now:
change your method signature or
fix PrivilegedAccessor

 

[Simon]

(PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(mc,"processArray(double[])",inputarray));

I can only guess, but if PriviledgedAccessor tries something like
Class.forName("double[]") it is not surprising that it fails. The correct string
for the array class in this case would be "[D". For Objects, the array class can
be obtained by using "[Lpackage.name.ClassName;".

Hope this helps,
Simon

 

[Daniel Pitts]

hi
i am trying out PrivilegedAccessor class (of http://sourceforge.net/projects/privaccessor/)
along with junit to test some private methods that process double[]
[] .I think this uses reflection to access private methods


public class MyClass {
private double[] processArray(double[] inarray){
double[] ret=new double[inarray.length];
for(int i=0;i<inarray.length;i++){
ret=inarray+100.0;
}
return ret;
}
}

here is the testcase class
<code>
import junit.framework.TestCase;
import junit.extensions.PrivilegedAccessor;

public class MyClassTest extends TestCase{
public MyClassTest(String name){
super(name);
}
public void testMyClass()throws Exception{
MyClass mc=new MyClass();
assertNotNull(mc);

double[] inputarray=new double[]{1.1,2.2,3.3,4.4};
double[] ans=new double[]{101.1,102.2,103.3,104.4};
double[] outputarray=(double[])
(PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(mc,"processArray(double[])",inputarray));
assertEquals(outputarray,ans);

}
}

<code>

when i run the test ,i get an error message like

java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: Method 'processArray(double[])'s
parameter nr1 (double[]) not found

This error originates at the call PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(..)
can someone tell me why this happens?

thanks
jim

Unit tests are better off testing public interfaces only. Private
implementation details shouldn't break the test unless they break client
code. They also shouldn't break client code unless they break the test.

Now, if the private method is an implementation of a particular
algorithm that is used in several parts of the same class, you might
consider pulling it out into its own class, making the method public,
and unit testing *that* class. This gives you two benefits: The user of
your class can provide you with a different implementation of that
algorithm if they choose, and any other part of your system that needs
to use that algorithm has access to the new class.

Hope this helps,
Daniel.

 

[Lew]

hi
i am trying out PrivilegedAccessor class (of  http://sourceforge.net/projects/privaccessor/)
along with junit to test some private methods that process double[]
[] .I think this uses reflection to access private methods

public class MyClass {
    private double[] processArray(double[] inarray){
        double[] ret=new double[inarray.length];
        for(int i=0;i<inarray.length;i++){
                ret=inarray+100.0;
        }
        return ret;
    }

}

here is the testcase class
<code>
import junit.framework.TestCase;
import junit.extensions.PrivilegedAccessor;

public class MyClassTest extends TestCase{
        public MyClassTest(String name){
                super(name);
        }
        public void testMyClass()throws Exception{
                MyClass mc=new MyClass();
                assertNotNull(mc);

                double[] inputarray=new double[]{1.1,2.2,3.3,4.4};
                double[] ans=new double[]{101.1,102.2,103.3,104.4};
                double[] outputarray=(double[])
(PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(mc,"processArray(double[])",inputarray));
                assertEquals(outputarray,ans);

       }

}

<code>

when i run the test ,i get an error message like

java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: Method 'processArray(double[])'s
parameter nr1 (double[]) not found

This error originates at the call PrivilegedAccessor.invokeMethod(..)
can someone tell me why this happens?

Private methods are amenable to proving via assertions. It is not
usual to unit-test private methods, at least not with mechanisms
(reflection) that are more bug-prone than the code under test.
Private methods, being under total control of their owning class,
depend on and establish program invariants. Put assertions at the
invariant points to prove them. This would render all that
complicated reflection fooferol unnecessary for unit-test purposes.

It is still valid, of course, to use reflection in order to learn how
to use reflection, but its use in production code should be limited to
those use cases where it helps more than it hurts. I particularly
recommend against unit-test code that introduces dependencies (other
than on the unit-test framework itself) that do not exist in the code
under test.