tests
A test names the mistake it catches, and has been seen to catch it.
Coverage says a line ran. It does not say a mistake there would be noticed. bambi’s tests are held to the stronger standard: every test has been run against a deliberately broken version of the code it guards, and failed.
Catches:
When you write a test, break the code the way a real mistake would — drop a sign, skip a reset, read the wrong index — and watch the test fail. Then say so in the test:
/* Catches: the hold dropped (the turn advancing whatever the transport does). */A reviewer reads the Catches: line first. A test without one is asked what it catches. When you propose a
test, propose the mutation with it.
what to assert
In order of preference:
- round trips: save and load, convert and convert back;
- invariants under a transformation: a rotation keeps energy, a region’s outside is exactly the rest;
- agreement with a closed form, where the maths gives one;
- bit-identical output at block sizes 1 to 1024.
Test the behaviour a user or a host would see. A UI check clicks where the control is drawn, rather than setting the state behind it, because “clicking does nothing” is exactly the failure that would otherwise pass.
where tests live
| what | run by | |
|---|---|---|
core/tests/ |
unit tests with doctest, one file per module | ./build/bambi-tests |
tests/golden/ |
scenarios rendered to audio and control traces, compared with what was recorded | tools/golden.sh |
plugins/*/Check/ |
each plugin driven headless: parameters, state, undo, presets, the editor | the check suites |
tests/conformance/ |
every installed plugin, both formats, negotiating buses as a host does | tools/conformance.sh |
A golden that changed is either a bug or an intended change. If it is intended, record it again with
tools/golden.sh --update and say in the change why the sound moved.
rules for the tests themselves
- Test names say what they check. They carry no ticket numbers or references.
- A concurrency test stops after a number of samples, never after a time, so a loaded machine does not fail it.
- Test scaffolding is shared, not copied: one fake transport serves every check.