xref: /freebsd/contrib/googletest/docs/faq.md (revision b64c5a0ace59af62eff52bfe110a521dc73c937b)
1# GoogleTest FAQ
2
3## Why should test suite names and test names not contain underscore?
4
5{: .callout .note}
6Note: GoogleTest reserves underscore (`_`) for special-purpose keywords, such as
7[the `DISABLED_` prefix](advanced.md#temporarily-disabling-tests), in addition
8to the following rationale.
9
10Underscore (`_`) is special, as C++ reserves the following to be used by the
11compiler and the standard library:
12
131.  any identifier that starts with an `_` followed by an upper-case letter, and
142.  any identifier that contains two consecutive underscores (i.e. `__`)
15    *anywhere* in its name.
16
17User code is *prohibited* from using such identifiers.
18
19Now let's look at what this means for `TEST` and `TEST_F`.
20
21Currently `TEST(TestSuiteName, TestName)` generates a class named
22`TestSuiteName_TestName_Test`. What happens if `TestSuiteName` or `TestName`
23contains `_`?
24
251.  If `TestSuiteName` starts with an `_` followed by an upper-case letter (say,
26    `_Foo`), we end up with `_Foo_TestName_Test`, which is reserved and thus
27    invalid.
282.  If `TestSuiteName` ends with an `_` (say, `Foo_`), we get
29    `Foo__TestName_Test`, which is invalid.
303.  If `TestName` starts with an `_` (say, `_Bar`), we get
31    `TestSuiteName__Bar_Test`, which is invalid.
324.  If `TestName` ends with an `_` (say, `Bar_`), we get
33    `TestSuiteName_Bar__Test`, which is invalid.
34
35So clearly `TestSuiteName` and `TestName` cannot start or end with `_`
36(Actually, `TestSuiteName` can start with `_`—as long as the `_` isn't followed
37by an upper-case letter. But that's getting complicated. So for simplicity we
38just say that it cannot start with `_`.).
39
40It may seem fine for `TestSuiteName` and `TestName` to contain `_` in the
41middle. However, consider this:
42
43```c++
44TEST(Time, Flies_Like_An_Arrow) { ... }
45TEST(Time_Flies, Like_An_Arrow) { ... }
46```
47
48Now, the two `TEST`s will both generate the same class
49(`Time_Flies_Like_An_Arrow_Test`). That's not good.
50
51So for simplicity, we just ask the users to avoid `_` in `TestSuiteName` and
52`TestName`. The rule is more constraining than necessary, but it's simple and
53easy to remember. It also gives GoogleTest some wiggle room in case its
54implementation needs to change in the future.
55
56If you violate the rule, there may not be immediate consequences, but your test
57may (just may) break with a new compiler (or a new version of the compiler you
58are using) or with a new version of GoogleTest. Therefore it's best to follow
59the rule.
60
61## Why does GoogleTest support `EXPECT_EQ(NULL, ptr)` and `ASSERT_EQ(NULL, ptr)` but not `EXPECT_NE(NULL, ptr)` and `ASSERT_NE(NULL, ptr)`?
62
63First of all, you can use `nullptr` with each of these macros, e.g.
64`EXPECT_EQ(ptr, nullptr)`, `EXPECT_NE(ptr, nullptr)`, `ASSERT_EQ(ptr, nullptr)`,
65`ASSERT_NE(ptr, nullptr)`. This is the preferred syntax in the style guide
66because `nullptr` does not have the type problems that `NULL` does.
67
68Due to some peculiarity of C++, it requires some non-trivial template meta
69programming tricks to support using `NULL` as an argument of the `EXPECT_XX()`
70and `ASSERT_XX()` macros. Therefore we only do it where it's most needed
71(otherwise we make the implementation of GoogleTest harder to maintain and more
72error-prone than necessary).
73
74Historically, the `EXPECT_EQ()` macro took the *expected* value as its first
75argument and the *actual* value as the second, though this argument order is now
76discouraged. It was reasonable that someone wanted
77to write `EXPECT_EQ(NULL, some_expression)`, and this indeed was requested
78several times. Therefore we implemented it.
79
80The need for `EXPECT_NE(NULL, ptr)` wasn't nearly as strong. When the assertion
81fails, you already know that `ptr` must be `NULL`, so it doesn't add any
82information to print `ptr` in this case. That means `EXPECT_TRUE(ptr != NULL)`
83works just as well.
84
85If we were to support `EXPECT_NE(NULL, ptr)`, for consistency we'd have to
86support `EXPECT_NE(ptr, NULL)` as well. This means using the template meta
87programming tricks twice in the implementation, making it even harder to
88understand and maintain. We believe the benefit doesn't justify the cost.
89
90Finally, with the growth of the gMock matcher library, we are encouraging people
91to use the unified `EXPECT_THAT(value, matcher)` syntax more often in tests. One
92significant advantage of the matcher approach is that matchers can be easily
93combined to form new matchers, while the `EXPECT_NE`, etc, macros cannot be
94easily combined. Therefore we want to invest more in the matchers than in the
95`EXPECT_XX()` macros.
96
97## I need to test that different implementations of an interface satisfy some common requirements. Should I use typed tests or value-parameterized tests?
98
99For testing various implementations of the same interface, either typed tests or
100value-parameterized tests can get it done. It's really up to you the user to
101decide which is more convenient for you, depending on your particular case. Some
102rough guidelines:
103
104*   Typed tests can be easier to write if instances of the different
105    implementations can be created the same way, modulo the type. For example,
106    if all these implementations have a public default constructor (such that
107    you can write `new TypeParam`), or if their factory functions have the same
108    form (e.g. `CreateInstance<TypeParam>()`).
109*   Value-parameterized tests can be easier to write if you need different code
110    patterns to create different implementations' instances, e.g. `new Foo` vs
111    `new Bar(5)`. To accommodate for the differences, you can write factory
112    function wrappers and pass these function pointers to the tests as their
113    parameters.
114*   When a typed test fails, the default output includes the name of the type,
115    which can help you quickly identify which implementation is wrong.
116    Value-parameterized tests only show the number of the failed iteration by
117    default. You will need to define a function that returns the iteration name
118    and pass it as the third parameter to INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P to have more
119    useful output.
120*   When using typed tests, you need to make sure you are testing against the
121    interface type, not the concrete types (in other words, you want to make
122    sure `implicit_cast<MyInterface*>(my_concrete_impl)` works, not just that
123    `my_concrete_impl` works). It's less likely to make mistakes in this area
124    when using value-parameterized tests.
125
126I hope I didn't confuse you more. :-) If you don't mind, I'd suggest you to give
127both approaches a try. Practice is a much better way to grasp the subtle
128differences between the two tools. Once you have some concrete experience, you
129can much more easily decide which one to use the next time.
130
131## My death test modifies some state, but the change seems lost after the death test finishes. Why?
132
133Death tests (`EXPECT_DEATH`, etc.) are executed in a sub-process s.t. the
134expected crash won't kill the test program (i.e. the parent process). As a
135result, any in-memory side effects they incur are observable in their respective
136sub-processes, but not in the parent process. You can think of them as running
137in a parallel universe, more or less.
138
139In particular, if you use mocking and the death test statement invokes some mock
140methods, the parent process will think the calls have never occurred. Therefore,
141you may want to move your `EXPECT_CALL` statements inside the `EXPECT_DEATH`
142macro.
143
144## EXPECT_EQ(htonl(blah), blah_blah) generates weird compiler errors in opt mode. Is this a GoogleTest bug?
145
146Actually, the bug is in `htonl()`.
147
148According to `'man htonl'`, `htonl()` is a *function*, which means it's valid to
149use `htonl` as a function pointer. However, in opt mode `htonl()` is defined as
150a *macro*, which breaks this usage.
151
152Worse, the macro definition of `htonl()` uses a `gcc` extension and is *not*
153standard C++. That hacky implementation has some ad hoc limitations. In
154particular, it prevents you from writing `Foo<sizeof(htonl(x))>()`, where `Foo`
155is a template that has an integral argument.
156
157The implementation of `EXPECT_EQ(a, b)` uses `sizeof(... a ...)` inside a
158template argument, and thus doesn't compile in opt mode when `a` contains a call
159to `htonl()`. It is difficult to make `EXPECT_EQ` bypass the `htonl()` bug, as
160the solution must work with different compilers on various platforms.
161
162## The compiler complains about "undefined references" to some static const member variables, but I did define them in the class body. What's wrong?
163
164If your class has a static data member:
165
166```c++
167// foo.h
168class Foo {
169  ...
170  static const int kBar = 100;
171};
172```
173
174you also need to define it *outside* of the class body in `foo.cc`:
175
176```c++
177const int Foo::kBar;  // No initializer here.
178```
179
180Otherwise your code is **invalid C++**, and may break in unexpected ways. In
181particular, using it in GoogleTest comparison assertions (`EXPECT_EQ`, etc.)
182will generate an "undefined reference" linker error. The fact that "it used to
183work" doesn't mean it's valid. It just means that you were lucky. :-)
184
185If the declaration of the static data member is `constexpr` then it is
186implicitly an `inline` definition, and a separate definition in `foo.cc` is not
187needed:
188
189```c++
190// foo.h
191class Foo {
192  ...
193  static constexpr int kBar = 100;  // Defines kBar, no need to do it in foo.cc.
194};
195```
196
197## Can I derive a test fixture from another?
198
199Yes.
200
201Each test fixture has a corresponding and same named test suite. This means only
202one test suite can use a particular fixture. Sometimes, however, multiple test
203cases may want to use the same or slightly different fixtures. For example, you
204may want to make sure that all of a GUI library's test suites don't leak
205important system resources like fonts and brushes.
206
207In GoogleTest, you share a fixture among test suites by putting the shared logic
208in a base test fixture, then deriving from that base a separate fixture for each
209test suite that wants to use this common logic. You then use `TEST_F()` to write
210tests using each derived fixture.
211
212Typically, your code looks like this:
213
214```c++
215// Defines a base test fixture.
216class BaseTest : public ::testing::Test {
217 protected:
218  ...
219};
220
221// Derives a fixture FooTest from BaseTest.
222class FooTest : public BaseTest {
223 protected:
224  void SetUp() override {
225    BaseTest::SetUp();  // Sets up the base fixture first.
226    ... additional set-up work ...
227  }
228
229  void TearDown() override {
230    ... clean-up work for FooTest ...
231    BaseTest::TearDown();  // Remember to tear down the base fixture
232                           // after cleaning up FooTest!
233  }
234
235  ... functions and variables for FooTest ...
236};
237
238// Tests that use the fixture FooTest.
239TEST_F(FooTest, Bar) { ... }
240TEST_F(FooTest, Baz) { ... }
241
242... additional fixtures derived from BaseTest ...
243```
244
245If necessary, you can continue to derive test fixtures from a derived fixture.
246GoogleTest has no limit on how deep the hierarchy can be.
247
248For a complete example using derived test fixtures, see
249[sample5_unittest.cc](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/main/googletest/samples/sample5_unittest.cc).
250
251## My compiler complains "void value not ignored as it ought to be." What does this mean?
252
253You're probably using an `ASSERT_*()` in a function that doesn't return `void`.
254`ASSERT_*()` can only be used in `void` functions, due to exceptions being
255disabled by our build system. Please see more details
256[here](advanced.md#assertion-placement).
257
258## My death test hangs (or seg-faults). How do I fix it?
259
260In GoogleTest, death tests are run in a child process and the way they work is
261delicate. To write death tests you really need to understand how they work—see
262the details at [Death Assertions](reference/assertions.md#death) in the
263Assertions Reference.
264
265In particular, death tests don't like having multiple threads in the parent
266process. So the first thing you can try is to eliminate creating threads outside
267of `EXPECT_DEATH()`. For example, you may want to use mocks or fake objects
268instead of real ones in your tests.
269
270Sometimes this is impossible as some library you must use may be creating
271threads before `main()` is even reached. In this case, you can try to minimize
272the chance of conflicts by either moving as many activities as possible inside
273`EXPECT_DEATH()` (in the extreme case, you want to move everything inside), or
274leaving as few things as possible in it. Also, you can try to set the death test
275style to `"threadsafe"`, which is safer but slower, and see if it helps.
276
277If you go with thread-safe death tests, remember that they rerun the test
278program from the beginning in the child process. Therefore make sure your
279program can run side-by-side with itself and is deterministic.
280
281In the end, this boils down to good concurrent programming. You have to make
282sure that there are no race conditions or deadlocks in your program. No silver
283bullet - sorry!
284
285## Should I use the constructor/destructor of the test fixture or SetUp()/TearDown()? {#CtorVsSetUp}
286
287The first thing to remember is that GoogleTest does **not** reuse the same test
288fixture object across multiple tests. For each `TEST_F`, GoogleTest will create
289a **fresh** test fixture object, immediately call `SetUp()`, run the test body,
290call `TearDown()`, and then delete the test fixture object.
291
292When you need to write per-test set-up and tear-down logic, you have the choice
293between using the test fixture constructor/destructor or `SetUp()`/`TearDown()`.
294The former is usually preferred, as it has the following benefits:
295
296*   By initializing a member variable in the constructor, we have the option to
297    make it `const`, which helps prevent accidental changes to its value and
298    makes the tests more obviously correct.
299*   In case we need to subclass the test fixture class, the subclass'
300    constructor is guaranteed to call the base class' constructor *first*, and
301    the subclass' destructor is guaranteed to call the base class' destructor
302    *afterward*. With `SetUp()/TearDown()`, a subclass may make the mistake of
303    forgetting to call the base class' `SetUp()/TearDown()` or call them at the
304    wrong time.
305
306You may still want to use `SetUp()/TearDown()` in the following cases:
307
308*   C++ does not allow virtual function calls in constructors and destructors.
309    You can call a method declared as virtual, but it will not use dynamic
310    dispatch. It will use the definition from the class the constructor of which
311    is currently executing. This is because calling a virtual method before the
312    derived class constructor has a chance to run is very dangerous - the
313    virtual method might operate on uninitialized data. Therefore, if you need
314    to call a method that will be overridden in a derived class, you have to use
315    `SetUp()/TearDown()`.
316*   In the body of a constructor (or destructor), it's not possible to use the
317    `ASSERT_xx` macros. Therefore, if the set-up operation could cause a fatal
318    test failure that should prevent the test from running, it's necessary to
319    use `abort` and abort the whole test
320    executable, or to use `SetUp()` instead of a constructor.
321*   If the tear-down operation could throw an exception, you must use
322    `TearDown()` as opposed to the destructor, as throwing in a destructor leads
323    to undefined behavior and usually will kill your program right away. Note
324    that many standard libraries (like STL) may throw when exceptions are
325    enabled in the compiler. Therefore you should prefer `TearDown()` if you
326    want to write portable tests that work with or without exceptions.
327*   The GoogleTest team is considering making the assertion macros throw on
328    platforms where exceptions are enabled (e.g. Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
329    client-side), which will eliminate the need for the user to propagate
330    failures from a subroutine to its caller. Therefore, you shouldn't use
331    GoogleTest assertions in a destructor if your code could run on such a
332    platform.
333
334## The compiler complains "no matching function to call" when I use `ASSERT_PRED*`. How do I fix it?
335
336See details for [`EXPECT_PRED*`](reference/assertions.md#EXPECT_PRED) in the
337Assertions Reference.
338
339## My compiler complains about "ignoring return value" when I call RUN_ALL_TESTS(). Why?
340
341Some people had been ignoring the return value of `RUN_ALL_TESTS()`. That is,
342instead of
343
344```c++
345  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
346```
347
348they write
349
350```c++
351  RUN_ALL_TESTS();
352```
353
354This is **wrong and dangerous**. The testing services needs to see the return
355value of `RUN_ALL_TESTS()` in order to determine if a test has passed. If your
356`main()` function ignores it, your test will be considered successful even if it
357has a GoogleTest assertion failure. Very bad.
358
359We have decided to fix this (thanks to Michael Chastain for the idea). Now, your
360code will no longer be able to ignore `RUN_ALL_TESTS()` when compiled with
361`gcc`. If you do so, you'll get a compiler error.
362
363If you see the compiler complaining about you ignoring the return value of
364`RUN_ALL_TESTS()`, the fix is simple: just make sure its value is used as the
365return value of `main()`.
366
367But how could we introduce a change that breaks existing tests? Well, in this
368case, the code was already broken in the first place, so we didn't break it. :-)
369
370## My compiler complains that a constructor (or destructor) cannot return a value. What's going on?
371
372Due to a peculiarity of C++, in order to support the syntax for streaming
373messages to an `ASSERT_*`, e.g.
374
375```c++
376  ASSERT_EQ(1, Foo()) << "blah blah" << foo;
377```
378
379we had to give up using `ASSERT*` and `FAIL*` (but not `EXPECT*` and
380`ADD_FAILURE*`) in constructors and destructors. The workaround is to move the
381content of your constructor/destructor to a private void member function, or
382switch to `EXPECT_*()` if that works. This
383[section](advanced.md#assertion-placement) in the user's guide explains it.
384
385## My SetUp() function is not called. Why?
386
387C++ is case-sensitive. Did you spell it as `Setup()`?
388
389Similarly, sometimes people spell `SetUpTestSuite()` as `SetupTestSuite()` and
390wonder why it's never called.
391
392## I have several test suites which share the same test fixture logic; do I have to define a new test fixture class for each of them? This seems pretty tedious.
393
394You don't have to. Instead of
395
396```c++
397class FooTest : public BaseTest {};
398
399TEST_F(FooTest, Abc) { ... }
400TEST_F(FooTest, Def) { ... }
401
402class BarTest : public BaseTest {};
403
404TEST_F(BarTest, Abc) { ... }
405TEST_F(BarTest, Def) { ... }
406```
407
408you can simply `typedef` the test fixtures:
409
410```c++
411typedef BaseTest FooTest;
412
413TEST_F(FooTest, Abc) { ... }
414TEST_F(FooTest, Def) { ... }
415
416typedef BaseTest BarTest;
417
418TEST_F(BarTest, Abc) { ... }
419TEST_F(BarTest, Def) { ... }
420```
421
422## GoogleTest output is buried in a whole bunch of LOG messages. What do I do?
423
424The GoogleTest output is meant to be a concise and human-friendly report. If
425your test generates textual output itself, it will mix with the GoogleTest
426output, making it hard to read. However, there is an easy solution to this
427problem.
428
429Since `LOG` messages go to stderr, we decided to let GoogleTest output go to
430stdout. This way, you can easily separate the two using redirection. For
431example:
432
433```shell
434$ ./my_test > gtest_output.txt
435```
436
437## Why should I prefer test fixtures over global variables?
438
439There are several good reasons:
440
4411.  It's likely your test needs to change the states of its global variables.
442    This makes it difficult to keep side effects from escaping one test and
443    contaminating others, making debugging difficult. By using fixtures, each
444    test has a fresh set of variables that's different (but with the same
445    names). Thus, tests are kept independent of each other.
4462.  Global variables pollute the global namespace.
4473.  Test fixtures can be reused via subclassing, which cannot be done easily
448    with global variables. This is useful if many test suites have something in
449    common.
450
451## What can the statement argument in ASSERT_DEATH() be?
452
453`ASSERT_DEATH(statement, matcher)` (or any death assertion macro) can be used
454wherever *`statement`* is valid. So basically *`statement`* can be any C++
455statement that makes sense in the current context. In particular, it can
456reference global and/or local variables, and can be:
457
458*   a simple function call (often the case),
459*   a complex expression, or
460*   a compound statement.
461
462Some examples are shown here:
463
464```c++
465// A death test can be a simple function call.
466TEST(MyDeathTest, FunctionCall) {
467  ASSERT_DEATH(Xyz(5), "Xyz failed");
468}
469
470// Or a complex expression that references variables and functions.
471TEST(MyDeathTest, ComplexExpression) {
472  const bool c = Condition();
473  ASSERT_DEATH((c ? Func1(0) : object2.Method("test")),
474               "(Func1|Method) failed");
475}
476
477// Death assertions can be used anywhere in a function.  In
478// particular, they can be inside a loop.
479TEST(MyDeathTest, InsideLoop) {
480  // Verifies that Foo(0), Foo(1), ..., and Foo(4) all die.
481  for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
482    EXPECT_DEATH_M(Foo(i), "Foo has \\d+ errors",
483                   ::testing::Message() << "where i is " << i);
484  }
485}
486
487// A death assertion can contain a compound statement.
488TEST(MyDeathTest, CompoundStatement) {
489  // Verifies that at lease one of Bar(0), Bar(1), ..., and
490  // Bar(4) dies.
491  ASSERT_DEATH({
492    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
493      Bar(i);
494    }
495  },
496  "Bar has \\d+ errors");
497}
498```
499
500## I have a fixture class `FooTest`, but `TEST_F(FooTest, Bar)` gives me error ``"no matching function for call to `FooTest::FooTest()'"``. Why?
501
502GoogleTest needs to be able to create objects of your test fixture class, so it
503must have a default constructor. Normally the compiler will define one for you.
504However, there are cases where you have to define your own:
505
506*   If you explicitly declare a non-default constructor for class `FooTest`
507    (`DISALLOW_EVIL_CONSTRUCTORS()` does this), then you need to define a
508    default constructor, even if it would be empty.
509*   If `FooTest` has a const non-static data member, then you have to define the
510    default constructor *and* initialize the const member in the initializer
511    list of the constructor. (Early versions of `gcc` doesn't force you to
512    initialize the const member. It's a bug that has been fixed in `gcc 4`.)
513
514## Why does ASSERT_DEATH complain about previous threads that were already joined?
515
516With the Linux pthread library, there is no turning back once you cross the line
517from a single thread to multiple threads. The first time you create a thread, a
518manager thread is created in addition, so you get 3, not 2, threads. Later when
519the thread you create joins the main thread, the thread count decrements by 1,
520but the manager thread will never be killed, so you still have 2 threads, which
521means you cannot safely run a death test.
522
523The new NPTL thread library doesn't suffer from this problem, as it doesn't
524create a manager thread. However, if you don't control which machine your test
525runs on, you shouldn't depend on this.
526
527## Why does GoogleTest require the entire test suite, instead of individual tests, to be named `*DeathTest` when it uses `ASSERT_DEATH`?
528
529GoogleTest does not interleave tests from different test suites. That is, it
530runs all tests in one test suite first, and then runs all tests in the next test
531suite, and so on. GoogleTest does this because it needs to set up a test suite
532before the first test in it is run, and tear it down afterwards. Splitting up
533the test case would require multiple set-up and tear-down processes, which is
534inefficient and makes the semantics unclean.
535
536If we were to determine the order of tests based on test name instead of test
537case name, then we would have a problem with the following situation:
538
539```c++
540TEST_F(FooTest, AbcDeathTest) { ... }
541TEST_F(FooTest, Uvw) { ... }
542
543TEST_F(BarTest, DefDeathTest) { ... }
544TEST_F(BarTest, Xyz) { ... }
545```
546
547Since `FooTest.AbcDeathTest` needs to run before `BarTest.Xyz`, and we don't
548interleave tests from different test suites, we need to run all tests in the
549`FooTest` case before running any test in the `BarTest` case. This contradicts
550with the requirement to run `BarTest.DefDeathTest` before `FooTest.Uvw`.
551
552## But I don't like calling my entire test suite `*DeathTest` when it contains both death tests and non-death tests. What do I do?
553
554You don't have to, but if you like, you may split up the test suite into
555`FooTest` and `FooDeathTest`, where the names make it clear that they are
556related:
557
558```c++
559class FooTest : public ::testing::Test { ... };
560
561TEST_F(FooTest, Abc) { ... }
562TEST_F(FooTest, Def) { ... }
563
564using FooDeathTest = FooTest;
565
566TEST_F(FooDeathTest, Uvw) { ... EXPECT_DEATH(...) ... }
567TEST_F(FooDeathTest, Xyz) { ... ASSERT_DEATH(...) ... }
568```
569
570## GoogleTest prints the LOG messages in a death test's child process only when the test fails. How can I see the LOG messages when the death test succeeds?
571
572Printing the LOG messages generated by the statement inside `EXPECT_DEATH()`
573makes it harder to search for real problems in the parent's log. Therefore,
574GoogleTest only prints them when the death test has failed.
575
576If you really need to see such LOG messages, a workaround is to temporarily
577break the death test (e.g. by changing the regex pattern it is expected to
578match). Admittedly, this is a hack. We'll consider a more permanent solution
579after the fork-and-exec-style death tests are implemented.
580
581## The compiler complains about `no match for 'operator<<'` when I use an assertion. What gives?
582
583If you use a user-defined type `FooType` in an assertion, you must make sure
584there is an `std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream&, const FooType&)` function
585defined such that we can print a value of `FooType`.
586
587In addition, if `FooType` is declared in a name space, the `<<` operator also
588needs to be defined in the *same* name space. See
589[Tip of the Week #49](https://abseil.io/tips/49) for details.
590
591## How do I suppress the memory leak messages on Windows?
592
593Since the statically initialized GoogleTest singleton requires allocations on
594the heap, the Visual C++ memory leak detector will report memory leaks at the
595end of the program run. The easiest way to avoid this is to use the
596`_CrtMemCheckpoint` and `_CrtMemDumpAllObjectsSince` calls to not report any
597statically initialized heap objects. See MSDN for more details and additional
598heap check/debug routines.
599
600## How can my code detect if it is running in a test?
601
602If you write code that sniffs whether it's running in a test and does different
603things accordingly, you are leaking test-only logic into production code and
604there is no easy way to ensure that the test-only code paths aren't run by
605mistake in production. Such cleverness also leads to
606[Heisenbugs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisenbug). Therefore we strongly
607advise against the practice, and GoogleTest doesn't provide a way to do it.
608
609In general, the recommended way to cause the code to behave differently under
610test is [Dependency Injection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_injection). You can inject
611different functionality from the test and from the production code. Since your
612production code doesn't link in the for-test logic at all (the
613[`testonly`](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/be/common-definitions.html#common.testonly) attribute for BUILD targets helps to ensure
614that), there is no danger in accidentally running it.
615
616However, if you *really*, *really*, *really* have no choice, and if you follow
617the rule of ending your test program names with `_test`, you can use the
618*horrible* hack of sniffing your executable name (`argv[0]` in `main()`) to know
619whether the code is under test.
620
621## How do I temporarily disable a test?
622
623If you have a broken test that you cannot fix right away, you can add the
624`DISABLED_` prefix to its name. This will exclude it from execution. This is
625better than commenting out the code or using `#if 0`, as disabled tests are
626still compiled (and thus won't rot).
627
628To include disabled tests in test execution, just invoke the test program with
629the `--gtest_also_run_disabled_tests` flag.
630
631## Is it OK if I have two separate `TEST(Foo, Bar)` test methods defined in different namespaces?
632
633Yes.
634
635The rule is **all test methods in the same test suite must use the same fixture
636class**. This means that the following is **allowed** because both tests use the
637same fixture class (`::testing::Test`).
638
639```c++
640namespace foo {
641TEST(CoolTest, DoSomething) {
642  SUCCEED();
643}
644}  // namespace foo
645
646namespace bar {
647TEST(CoolTest, DoSomething) {
648  SUCCEED();
649}
650}  // namespace bar
651```
652
653However, the following code is **not allowed** and will produce a runtime error
654from GoogleTest because the test methods are using different test fixture
655classes with the same test suite name.
656
657```c++
658namespace foo {
659class CoolTest : public ::testing::Test {};  // Fixture foo::CoolTest
660TEST_F(CoolTest, DoSomething) {
661  SUCCEED();
662}
663}  // namespace foo
664
665namespace bar {
666class CoolTest : public ::testing::Test {};  // Fixture: bar::CoolTest
667TEST_F(CoolTest, DoSomething) {
668  SUCCEED();
669}
670}  // namespace bar
671```
672