3.5 Testing with lab and code

Testing with lab and code

Make sure lab and code are installed.
Install Instructions

Make directory and files:
./test/index.js
./test/version.js.

Configure package.json and Makefile for testing

step1: Configure package.json to allow npm to execute needed test commands.
npm run syntax allows you to run custom commands with npm.
This package.json illustrates npm run syntax

 "scripts": {
    "start": "node start.js",
    "test": "lab",
    "test-coverage": "lab -t 100",
    "test-coverage-html": "lab -r html -o test/coverage.html"
  },

The above part of the package.json file allows you to run commands like:
npm test // This executes: lab without %100 coverage.
npm run test-coverage // executes:lab -t 100

step2: Use Makefile to simplify the commands you run.
Important: put ".PHONY: test" and other commands in your make file to ensure the
command "make test" does not conflict with the ./test directory.
See Sample Makefile
@todo write basic best practices for Makefile.

Build tests for corresponding files in /lib.

Make sure you get 100% coverage.
Important: Use your Makefile commands as short cuts to execute your tests.
For example:
make test (should run your tests)
make cov (should run your coverage tests)
See Sample Makefile

Exports and testing

Based on conversation with @chyld, as a general rule or best practice do not export
values from plugins just to get tests to pass (many of us were doing that).
This should be avoided

We were exporting values from ./lib/index.js just to pass tests in /lib/index.js.
This was because we did not understand node.js' singleton design of objects created by
required modules.
See Node.js Modules & Singleton Explanation