Writing_Tests

Writing Unit Tests in GAML

Unit testing is an essential instrument in GAMA. It allows the modeler to define a set of assertions that will be tested. Before the execution of the embedded set of instructions, if a setup is defined in the species, model or experiment, it is executed. In a test, if one assertion fails, the evaluation of other assertions continue.

In this unit testing tutorial, we intend to show how to write unit tests in GAML using the statement test.

What is test in GAML?

In GAML, the statement test allows to write a part of code to verify if portions of our GAML model are doing exactly what they are written for. This is done independently from other parts.

To write a typical GAML unit test, we can follow three steps:

1. Define a set of attributes to use within the test.
2. Write initialisation instructions
3. Write assertions.

The aim of using unit test is to observe the resulting behaviour of some parts of our model. If the observed behaviour is consistent with the expectations, the unit test passes, otherwise, it fails, indicating that there is a problem concerning the tested part of the model.