Re: [Boost-users] Testing private methods in Boost

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] Testing private methods in Boost
From: Rob Riggs (rob_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-06-08 21:03:23

On 06/08/2010 01:54 PM, hmiller_at_[hidden] wrote:
> Is their a good strategy for testing private methods in a class using 
> Boost?  I am looking for something that is non-intrusive to the 
> developed code, but I can't think of any good ways without modifying 
> the code under test.

#define private public
#define protected public
#include "MyClass.hpp"
#undef protected
#undef private

That's the horribly wrong answer.  The right answer is "don't test 
privates except through the public interface".  Testing private methods 
explicitly will result in classes that are hard to refactor because the 
unit tests, upon which one relies heavily during any refactoring 
exercise, constrain the implementation.

Regards,

Rob