Golang Testing

affaan-m/ECC/.kiro/skills/golang-testing

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

Go testing best practices including table-driven tests, test helpers, benchmarking, race detection, coverage analysis, and integration testing patterns. Use when writing or improving Go tests.

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Guidance on Go testing patterns: table-driven tests, helpers, race detection, coverage, benchmarks, and integration tests.

What it does
This skill supplies Go-specific testing guidance covering table-driven tests, test helpers, fixtures and cleanup, race detection, coverage analysis, benchmarking, mocking, and integration testing. It provides code examples and commands such as go test -race, coverage profiles, and build tags. It is an instructions-only reference and produces no files or scripts of its own.
When to use it
Use it when writing or improving Go tests, raising test coverage, setting up test infrastructure, debugging flaky tests, or adding integration tests. It also fits optimizing test performance and adopting idiomatic Go testing conventions.
Requirements
Requires a Go toolchain to run the described commands; some examples reference sqlite3, testcontainers, and benchstat. No scripts ship with the skill.

Go Testing

This skill provides comprehensive Go testing patterns extending common testing principles with Go-specific idioms.

Testing Framework

Use the standard go test with table-driven tests as the primary pattern.

Table-Driven Tests

The idiomatic Go testing pattern:

go
func TestValidateEmail(t *testing.T) {    tests := []struct {        name    string        email   string        wantErr bool    }{        {            name:    "valid email",            email:   "[email protected]",            wantErr: false,        },        {            name:    "missing @",            email:   "userexample.com",            wantErr: true,        },        {            name:    "empty string",            email:   "",            wantErr: true,        },    }
    for _, tt := range tests {        t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {            err := ValidateEmail(tt.email)            if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {                t.Errorf("ValidateEmail(%q) error = %v, wantErr %v",                    tt.email, err, tt.wantErr)            }        })    }}

Benefits:

  • Easy to add new test cases
  • Clear test case documentation
  • Parallel test execution with t.Parallel()
  • Isolated subtests with t.Run()

Test Helpers

Use t.Helper() to mark helper functions:

go
func assertNoError(t *testing.T, err error) {    t.Helper()    if err != nil {        t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)    }}
func assertEqual(t *testing.T, got, want interface{}) {    t.Helper()    if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {        t.Errorf("got %v, want %v", got, want)    }}

Benefits:

  • Correct line numbers in test failures
  • Reusable test utilities
  • Cleaner test code

Test Fixtures

Use t.Cleanup() for resource cleanup:

go
func testDB(t *testing.T) *sql.DB {    t.Helper()
    db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", ":memory:")    if err != nil {        t.Fatalf("failed to open test db: %v", err)    }
    // Cleanup runs after test completes    t.Cleanup(func() {        if err := db.Close(); err != nil {            t.Errorf("failed to close db: %v", err)        }    })
    return db}
func TestUserRepository(t *testing.T) {    db := testDB(t)    repo := NewUserRepository(db)    // ... test logic}

Race Detection

Always run tests with the -race flag to detect data races:

bash
go test -race ./...

In CI/CD:

yaml
- name: Test with race detector  run: go test -race -timeout 5m ./...

Why:

  • Detects concurrent access bugs
  • Prevents production race conditions
  • Minimal performance overhead in tests

Coverage Analysis

Basic Coverage

bash
go test -cover ./...

Detailed Coverage Report

bash
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...go tool cover -html=coverage.out

Coverage Thresholds

bash
# Fail if coverage below 80%go test -cover ./... | grep -E 'coverage: [0-7][0-9]\.[0-9]%' && exit 1

Benchmarking

go
func BenchmarkValidateEmail(b *testing.B) {    email := "[email protected]"
    b.ResetTimer()    for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {        ValidateEmail(email)    }}

Run benchmarks:

bash
go test -bench=. -benchmem

Compare benchmarks:

bash
go test -bench=. -benchmem > old.txt# make changesgo test -bench=. -benchmem > new.txtbenchstat old.txt new.txt

Mocking

Interface-Based Mocking

go
type UserRepository interface {    GetUser(id string) (*User, error)}
type mockUserRepository struct {    users map[string]*User    err   error}
func (m *mockUserRepository) GetUser(id string) (*User, error) {    if m.err != nil {        return nil, m.err    }    return m.users[id], nil}
func TestUserService(t *testing.T) {    mock := &mockUserRepository{        users: map[string]*User{            "1": {ID: "1", Name: "Alice"},        },    }
    service := NewUserService(mock)    // ... test logic}

Integration Tests

Build Tags

go
//go:build integration// +build integration
package user_test
func TestUserRepository_Integration(t *testing.T) {    // ... integration test}

Run integration tests:

bash
go test -tags=integration ./...

Test Containers

go
func TestWithPostgres(t *testing.T) {    if testing.Short() {        t.Skip("skipping integration test")    }
    // Setup test container    ctx := context.Background()    container, err := testcontainers.GenericContainer(ctx, ...)    assertNoError(t, err)
    t.Cleanup(func() {        container.Terminate(ctx)    })
    // ... test logic}

Test Organization

File Structure

package/├── user.go├── user_test.go          # Unit tests├── user_integration_test.go  # Integration tests└── testdata/             # Test fixtures    └── users.json

Package Naming

go
// Black-box testing (external perspective)package user_test
// White-box testing (internal access)package user

Common Patterns

Testing HTTP Handlers

go
func TestUserHandler(t *testing.T) {    req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/users/1", nil)    rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
    handler := NewUserHandler(mockRepo)    handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
    assertEqual(t, rec.Code, http.StatusOK)}

Testing with Context

go
func TestWithTimeout(t *testing.T) {    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 100*time.Millisecond)    defer cancel()
    err := SlowOperation(ctx)    if !errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {        t.Errorf("expected timeout error, got %v", err)    }}

Best Practices

  1. Use t.Parallel() for independent tests
  2. Use testing.Short() to skip slow tests
  3. Use t.TempDir() for temporary directories
  4. Use t.Setenv() for environment variables
  5. Avoid init() in test files
  6. Keep tests focused - one behavior per test
  7. Use meaningful test names - describe what's being tested

When to Use This Skill

  • Writing new Go tests
  • Improving test coverage
  • Setting up test infrastructure
  • Debugging flaky tests
  • Optimizing test performance
  • Implementing integration tests

Source and attribution

Source:affaan-m/ECCin.kiro/skills/golang-testingat commitef648e0

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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