CODEWITHSUNDEEP
unit-testingtesting
GurdeepS
GurdeepS

Reputation: 67223

How to unit test a method with no side effect?

Is it possible to unit test a method like the following?

void AddNumbers() {
  int i = 2+2;
}

In other words, a method with no side effects really. Or are methods like these skipped and not usually tested? I would assume that i would normally be made a class-level variable, but then this has its drawbacks (nothing very big though).

Upvotes: 1

Views: 331

Answers (2)

Diego Sevilla
Diego Sevilla

Reputation: 29021

Mmm... this method has no side effect, but it is effectively doing nothing. A method without side effects, IMO, would be one that returns a value without changing any state (class or application), and this is how it can be tested again expected results. For any implementation, the method you wrote is invisible.

Upvotes: 1

Carl Manaster
Carl Manaster

Reputation: 40336

There is no value to a method with neither side-effects nor primary effects, such as you've presented. Calling it - from test code or production code - would, well, have no effect. So there's nothing to test, and no reason for the method.

Upvotes: 6

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