How Can We Reuse Test Code from Imported Packages in Go?

Reusing Test Code in Imported Packages

When managing a complex codebase, the ability to reuse test code becomes crucial for efficient and maintainable testing practices. This article explores a common challenge faced by developers: reusing test code from an imported package.

Consider the following scenario: a project has the following directory structure:

/
|-- main.go
|-- main_test.go
|-- pkg1
    |-- pkg1_test.go

main.go imports pkg1 and contains code that relies on unexported functions in pkg1. pkg1_test.go contains a utility function, verifyTaskNumber, which calls an internal function in pkg1. However, main_test.go needs to use verifyTaskNumber in its own tests.

To address this issue, two possible solutions are proposed:

1. Move verifyTaskNumber to pkg1.go. This allows main_test.go to access the function directly. However, verifyTaskNumber may be included in the binary generated by go build, making it inaccessible for testing.
2. Create a separate testutility package, containing verifyTaskNumber, and import it in both main_test.go and pkg1_test.go. While this allows access to the function, it creates a dependency on testutility, which itself depends on pkg1.

Neither solution provides a seamless and efficient approach to reusing test code. An alternative solution is to move verifyTaskNumber to a utils package that is imported in both main_test.go and pkg1_test.go. To account for the reliance on unexported functions in pkg1, the results of the internal function can be saved to a support file and loaded by the utils package. This avoids the dependency on the unexported function while providing access to the test utility in multiple test packages.

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