RPR-Unit testing

Testing R code

(Code testing in R with the testthat package)

 

Abstract:

This unit discusses how to put tests in R into practice with the testthat package.

---

Objectives: This unit will ... ... introduce the testthat package; ... teach how to write tests; ... demonstrate best practice to organize your tests.

Outcomes: After working through this unit you ... ... can write your own tests; ... can organize your tests in files and a testing directory to simplify running them.

---

Deliverables:

Time management: Before you begin, estimate how long it will take you to complete this unit. Then, record in your course journal: the number of hours you estimated, the number of hours you worked on the unit, and the amount of time that passed between start and completion of this unit.

Journal: Document your progress in your Course Journal. Some tasks may ask you to include specific items in your journal. Don't overlook these.

Insights: If you find something particularly noteworthy about this unit, make a note in your insights! page.

---

Prerequisites:
This unit builds on material covered in the following prerequisite units:

• FND-CSC-Test_driven_development (Test Driven Development)

 

This page is tagged for revision; expect changes and proceed with caution.

 

 

Contents

Task:

 

• Open RStudio and load the ABC-units R project. If you have loaded it before, choose File → Recent projects → ABC-Units. If you have not loaded it before, follow the instructions in the RPR-Introduction unit.
• Choose Tools → Version Control → Pull Branches to fetch the most recent version of the project from its GitHub repository with all changes and bug fixes included.
• Type init() if requested.
• Open the file RPR-Unit_testing.R and follow the instructions.

 

Note: take care that you understand all of the code in the script. Evaluation in this course is cumulative and you may be asked to explain any part of code.

 

Self-evaluation

Notes

Further reading, links and resources

testthat package reference pdf (on CRAN)

• Kent C. Dodds on unit testing vs. integration testing (blog post)

 

---

 

If in doubt, ask! If anything about this learning unit is not clear to you, do not proceed blindly but ask for clarification. Post your question on the course mailing list: others are likely to have similar problems. Or send an email to your instructor.

---

 

About ...
 
Author:

Boris Steipe <boris.steipe@utoronto.ca>

Created:

2017-08-05

Modified:

2017-08-05

Version:

1.0

Version history:

• 1.0 New contents
• 0.1 First stub

---

This copyrighted material is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Follow the link to learn more.