go-testing

name	go/testing
description	Go testing patterns with stdlib testing package. Table-driven tests, subtests, test helpers, function-based mocks. Extends core/testing with Go-specific implementations.

Go Testing

Use stdlib testing package. No frameworks needed — testing + t.Run + t.Helper is sufficient.

Table-Driven Tests

Default pattern for testing multiple cases:

func TestParseAmount(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name    string
        input   string
        want    int64
        wantErr bool
    }{
        {name: "whole dollars", input: "42", want: 4200},
        {name: "with cents", input: "42.50", want: 4250},
        {name: "negative", input: "-10", wantErr: true},
        {name: "empty string", input: "", wantErr: true},
    }

    for _, testCase := range tests {
        t.Run(testCase.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            got, err := ParseAmount(testCase.input)
            if testCase.wantErr {
                if err == nil { t.Fatal("expected error, got nil") }
                return
            }
            if err != nil { t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err) }
            if got != testCase.want {
                t.Errorf("ParseAmount(%q) = %d, want %d", testCase.input, got, testCase.want)
            }
        })
    }
}

Guidelines: descriptive name first, got/want convention, t.Fatal for setup failures, t.Error for assertions.

Test Helpers

func assertNoError(t *testing.T, err error) {
    t.Helper()
    if err != nil { t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err) }
}

func assertEqual[T comparable](t *testing.T, got, want T) {
    t.Helper()
    if got != want { t.Errorf("got %v, want %v", got, want) }
}

Setup and Teardown

func setupTestDB(t *testing.T) *sql.DB {
    t.Helper()
    db, err := sql.Open("postgres", testDSN)
    if err != nil { t.Fatal(err) }
    t.Cleanup(func() { db.Close() })
    return db
}

Use testdata/ directories for test fixtures (Go ignores them during builds).

Function-Based Mocks

Recommended pattern — maximum flexibility per test:

type UserRepositoryFunc struct {
    FindByIDFunc func(ctx context.Context, id string) (*User, error)
    SaveFunc     func(ctx context.Context, user *User) error
}

var _ UserRepository = (*UserRepositoryFunc)(nil)

func (m *UserRepositoryFunc) FindByID(ctx context.Context, id string) (*User, error) {
    return m.FindByIDFunc(ctx, id)
}

func (m *UserRepositoryFunc) Save(ctx context.Context, user *User) error {
    return m.SaveFunc(ctx, user)
}

Usage:

repo := &UserRepositoryFunc{
    FindByIDFunc: func(_ context.Context, id string) (*User, error) {
        if id == "user-1" { return &User{ID: "user-1"}, nil }
        return nil, ErrNotFound
    },
    SaveFunc: func(_ context.Context, user *User) error {
        savedUser = user // Capture for verification
        return nil
    },
}

Test File Organization

• package foo_test for black-box tests (preferred)
• package foo for white-box tests (when needed)
• Unit tests co-located with code
• Integration tests in test-integration/ directory

Anti-Patterns

• Testing private functions — test public API only
• Test frameworks when not established — stdlib covers 99% of needs
• Heavy mocking frameworks — use function-based mocks
• time.Sleep() for sync — use channels or WaitGroups
• Not using t.Helper() — needed for accurate failure line numbers
• Assertions in loops without t.Run — use subtests

Verification

• go test -race -v ./... passes with no failures or data races
• Table-driven tests used for functions with multiple input/output cases
• t.Helper() called at the start of every test helper function
• Bug fixes include a regression test that fails without the fix