New Catch2 Offering for C++ Adds to VS Code Test Explorers -- Visual Studio Magazine

New Catch2 Offering for C++ Adds to VS Code Test Explorers

By David Ramel
08/27/2018

A brand-new C++ offering for Catch2 highlights the growing body of test explorers for the cross-platform, open source Visual Studio Code editor available in its marketplace.

Catch2 Test Explorer for Visual Studio Code, published by Mate Pek on Aug. 25, lets developers run Catch2 tests using the existing Test Explorer UI for VS Code from Holger Benl.

Catch2, on GitHub, is "a modern, C++-native, header-only, test framework for unit-tests, TDD and BDD - using C++11, C++14, C++17 and later (or C++03 on the Catch1.x branch)."

The name stands for C++ Automated Test Cases in a Header, and it's described as a multi-paradigm C++ test framework that also supports Objective-C (and maybe C). "It is primarily distributed as a single header file, although certain extensions may require additional headers," the project states.

Catch2 Test Explorer joins a bevy of other test explorers available in the Visual Studio Code Marketplace, with several authored by Benl, who in addition to Test Explorer UI has also published:

Mocha Test Explorer, with nearly 1,700 installs.
Jasmine Test Explorer, with more than 3,400 installs.
Test Explorer Live Share, with 16 installs (a low count because it's another new offering, only released Aug. 24).

Other test explorers available include:

.NET Core Test Explorer, from Jun Han. Popularity-wise, this leads the pack with more than 83,000 installs an average 4.8 rating (on scale to 5) from six developers who reviewed it.
Unit Test Explorer, from Gabriel Parelli Francischini, with 969 installs.
Google Test Explorer, from OpenNingia, with 590 installs.

Pek said he plans on improving his new offering, which has been installed 10 time since its introduction a couple days ago, by refactoring code, improving the XML parser and improving logging.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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