Csharp Testing

affaan-m/ECC/skills/csharp-testing

by affaan-mef648e01899ba3e8dc6371642deaaf64b4477775No license275K starsListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026Repository updated 4 days ago

C# and .NET testing patterns with xUnit, FluentAssertions, mocking, integration tests, and test organization best practices. Use when writing or reviewing xUnit tests, mocks, or integration tests in a C# / .NET project.

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Guidance for writing and reviewing C#/.NET tests with xUnit, FluentAssertions, mocking, and integration tests.

What it does
Provides reference patterns for .NET testing: arrange-act-assert unit tests, xUnit theories, NSubstitute mocking, ASP.NET Core integration tests with WebApplicationFactory, and Testcontainers-based database tests. It also covers test project organization, test data builders, common anti-patterns, and dotnet test commands. It is an instructions-only skill and produces no files or scripts.
When to use it
Use when writing new tests for C# code, reviewing test quality or coverage, setting up .NET test infrastructure, or debugging flaky or slow tests.
Requirements
No bundled scripts. The agent needs no tooling beyond itself to apply the guidance; following the examples assumes a .NET SDK with xUnit, FluentAssertions, a mocking library such as NSubstitute or Moq, and optionally Testcontainers, WebApplicationFactory, and Bogus.

C# Testing Patterns

Comprehensive testing patterns for .NET applications using xUnit, FluentAssertions, and modern testing practices.

When to Activate

  • Writing new tests for C# code
  • Reviewing test quality and coverage
  • Setting up test infrastructure for .NET projects
  • Debugging flaky or slow tests

Test Framework Stack

ToolPurpose
xUnitTest framework (preferred for .NET)
FluentAssertionsReadable assertion syntax
NSubstitute or MoqMocking dependencies
TestcontainersReal infrastructure in integration tests
WebApplicationFactoryASP.NET Core integration tests
BogusRealistic test data generation

Unit Test Structure

Arrange-Act-Assert

csharp
public sealed class OrderServiceTests{    private readonly IOrderRepository _repository = Substitute.For<IOrderRepository>();    private readonly ILogger<OrderService> _logger = Substitute.For<ILogger<OrderService>>();    private readonly OrderService _sut;
    public OrderServiceTests()    {        _sut = new OrderService(_repository, _logger);    }
    [Fact]    public async Task PlaceOrderAsync_ReturnsSuccess_WhenRequestIsValid()    {        // Arrange        var request = new CreateOrderRequest        {            CustomerId = "cust-123",            Items = [new OrderItem("SKU-001", 2, 29.99m)]        };
        // Act        var result = await _sut.PlaceOrderAsync(request, CancellationToken.None);
        // Assert        result.IsSuccess.Should().BeTrue();        result.Value.Should().NotBeNull();        result.Value!.CustomerId.Should().Be("cust-123");    }
    [Fact]    public async Task PlaceOrderAsync_ReturnsFailure_WhenNoItems()    {        // Arrange        var request = new CreateOrderRequest        {            CustomerId = "cust-123",            Items = []        };
        // Act        var result = await _sut.PlaceOrderAsync(request, CancellationToken.None);
        // Assert        result.IsSuccess.Should().BeFalse();        result.Error.Should().Contain("at least one item");    }}

Parameterized Tests with Theory

csharp
[Theory][InlineData("", false)][InlineData("a", false)][InlineData("[email protected]", false)][InlineData("[email protected]", true)][InlineData("[email protected]", true)]public void IsValidEmail_ReturnsExpected(string email, bool expected){    EmailValidator.IsValid(email).Should().Be(expected);}
[Theory][MemberData(nameof(InvalidOrderCases))]public async Task PlaceOrderAsync_RejectsInvalidOrders(CreateOrderRequest request, string expectedError){    var result = await _sut.PlaceOrderAsync(request, CancellationToken.None);
    result.IsSuccess.Should().BeFalse();    result.Error.Should().Contain(expectedError);}
public static TheoryData<CreateOrderRequest, string> InvalidOrderCases => new(){    { new() { CustomerId = "", Items = [ValidItem()] }, "CustomerId" },    { new() { CustomerId = "c1", Items = [] }, "at least one item" },    { new() { CustomerId = "c1", Items = [new("", 1, 10m)] }, "SKU" },};

Mocking with NSubstitute

csharp
[Fact]public async Task GetOrderAsync_ReturnsNull_WhenNotFound(){    // Arrange    var orderId = Guid.NewGuid();    _repository.FindByIdAsync(orderId, Arg.Any<CancellationToken>())        .Returns((Order?)null);
    // Act    var result = await _sut.GetOrderAsync(orderId, CancellationToken.None);
    // Assert    result.Should().BeNull();}
[Fact]public async Task PlaceOrderAsync_PersistsOrder(){    // Arrange    var request = ValidOrderRequest();
    // Act    await _sut.PlaceOrderAsync(request, CancellationToken.None);
    // Assert — verify the repository was called    await _repository.Received(1).AddAsync(        Arg.Is<Order>(o => o.CustomerId == request.CustomerId),        Arg.Any<CancellationToken>());}

ASP.NET Core Integration Tests

WebApplicationFactory Setup

csharp
public sealed class OrderApiTests : IClassFixture<WebApplicationFactory<Program>>{    private readonly HttpClient _client;
    public OrderApiTests(WebApplicationFactory<Program> factory)    {        _client = factory.WithWebHostBuilder(builder =>        {            builder.ConfigureServices(services =>            {                // Replace real DB with in-memory for tests                services.RemoveAll<DbContextOptions<AppDbContext>>();                services.AddDbContext<AppDbContext>(options =>                    options.UseInMemoryDatabase("TestDb"));            });        }).CreateClient();    }
    [Fact]    public async Task GetOrder_Returns404_WhenNotFound()    {        var response = await _client.GetAsync($"/api/orders/{Guid.NewGuid()}");
        response.StatusCode.Should().Be(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);    }
    [Fact]    public async Task CreateOrder_Returns201_WithValidRequest()    {        var request = new CreateOrderRequest        {            CustomerId = "cust-1",            Items = [new("SKU-001", 1, 19.99m)]        };
        var response = await _client.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/orders", request);
        response.StatusCode.Should().Be(HttpStatusCode.Created);        response.Headers.Location.Should().NotBeNull();    }}

Testing with Testcontainers

csharp
public sealed class PostgresOrderRepositoryTests : IAsyncLifetime{    private readonly PostgreSqlContainer _postgres = new PostgreSqlBuilder()        .WithImage("postgres:16-alpine")        .Build();
    private AppDbContext _db = null!;
    public async Task InitializeAsync()    {        await _postgres.StartAsync();        var options = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<AppDbContext>()            .UseNpgsql(_postgres.GetConnectionString())            .Options;        _db = new AppDbContext(options);        await _db.Database.MigrateAsync();    }
    public async Task DisposeAsync()    {        await _db.DisposeAsync();        await _postgres.DisposeAsync();    }
    [Fact]    public async Task AddAsync_PersistsOrder()    {        var repo = new SqlOrderRepository(_db);        var order = Order.Create("cust-1", [new OrderItem("SKU-001", 2, 10m)]);
        await repo.AddAsync(order, CancellationToken.None);
        var found = await repo.FindByIdAsync(order.Id, CancellationToken.None);        found.Should().NotBeNull();        found!.Items.Should().HaveCount(1);    }}

Test Organization

tests/  MyApp.UnitTests/    Services/      OrderServiceTests.cs      PaymentServiceTests.cs    Validators/      EmailValidatorTests.cs  MyApp.IntegrationTests/    Api/      OrderApiTests.cs    Repositories/      OrderRepositoryTests.cs  MyApp.TestHelpers/    Builders/      OrderBuilder.cs    Fixtures/      DatabaseFixture.cs

Test Data Builders

csharp
public sealed class OrderBuilder{    private string _customerId = "cust-default";    private readonly List<OrderItem> _items = [new("SKU-001", 1, 10m)];
    public OrderBuilder WithCustomer(string customerId)    {        _customerId = customerId;        return this;    }
    public OrderBuilder WithItem(string sku, int quantity, decimal price)    {        _items.Add(new OrderItem(sku, quantity, price));        return this;    }
    public Order Build() => Order.Create(_customerId, _items);}
// Usage in testsvar order = new OrderBuilder()    .WithCustomer("cust-vip")    .WithItem("SKU-PREMIUM", 3, 99.99m)    .Build();

Common Anti-Patterns

Anti-PatternFix
Testing implementation detailsTest behavior and outcomes
Shared mutable test stateFresh instance per test (xUnit does this via constructors)
Thread.Sleep in async testsUse Task.Delay with timeout, or polling helpers
Asserting on ToString() outputAssert on typed properties
One giant assertion per testOne logical assertion per test
Test names describing implementationName by behavior: Method_ExpectedResult_WhenCondition
Ignoring CancellationTokenAlways pass and verify cancellation

Running Tests

bash
# Run all testsdotnet test
# Run with coveragedotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
# Run specific projectdotnet test tests/MyApp.UnitTests/
# Filter by test namedotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~OrderService"
# Watch mode during developmentdotnet watch test --project tests/MyApp.UnitTests/

Source and attribution

Source:affaan-m/ECCinskills/csharp-testingat commitef648e0

License: No license

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