gbasler / CppQuickCheck

QuickCheck-like property based automated testing tool for C++

CppQuickCheck

ABOUT

CppQuickCheck is a library for automated testing of C++ code. You provide a specification how your code is supposed to behave through properties and CppQuickCheck will generate a large number of random test cases that attempt to prove or disprove the properties. The specifications are written in pure C++ using the functionality of the CppQuickCheck library.

DOCUMENTATION

todo

BACKGROUND

CppQuickCheck is inspired and based on the QuickCheck library for Haskell. CppQuickCheck differs in some aspects of the implementation and interface (as well as being written in C++ instead of Haskell), but tries to maintain similar functionality to the QuickCheck library.

A similar library for C++ exists called QuickCheck++. QuickCheck++ does not support several important things that the Haskell QuickCheck supports including:

• Generator combinators - In QuickCheck++ custom generators for user defined types are written by hand, with no provided random number generation facility. One example of a way that Haskell's QuickCheck (and CppQuickCheck) improve on this is the function oneof whick takes a list of generators and creates a new generator that when called, selects a random generator from the list and uses that to generate the input. In QuickCheck++ this has to be written by hand using some external random number generating library.
• Shrinking the input for failed test cases - When a randomly generated test case fails, Haskell's QuickCheck (and CppQuickCheck, but not QuickCheck++) will try to shrink the input to provide a minimal failing case. This makes debugging the failure easier because instead of working with a potentially large input case, much of the input can be removed to reveal the structure of the failure.

For these reasons, CppQuickCheck tries to maintain all the functionality of the Haskell QuickCheck, and so taking a different implementation approach than QuickCheck++.

LICENSE

CppQuickCheck is distributed under a BSD license:

Copyright (c) 2010, Gregory Rogers All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.