Rust testing patterns including unit tests, integration tests, async testing, property-based testing, mocking, and coverage. Follows TDD methodology.
Rust Testing Patterns
Comprehensive Rust testing patterns for writing reliable, maintainable tests following TDD methodology.
When to Use
Writing new Rust functions, methods, or traits
Adding test coverage to existing code
Creating benchmarks for performance-critical code
Implementing property-based tests for input validation
Following TDD workflow in Rust projects
How It Works
Identify target code — Find the function, trait, or module to test
Write a test — Use #[test] in a #[cfg(test)] module, rstest for parameterized tests, or proptest for property-based tests
Mock dependencies — Use mockall to isolate the unit under test
Run tests (RED) — Verify the test fails with the expected error
Implement (GREEN) — Write minimal code to pass
Refactor — Improve while keeping tests green
Check coverage — Use cargo-llvm-cov, target 80%+
TDD Workflow for Rust
The RED-GREEN-REFACTOR Cycle
RED → Write a failing test first
GREEN → Write minimal code to pass the test
REFACTOR → Improve code while keeping tests green
REPEAT → Continue with next requirement
Step-by-Step TDD in Rust
// RED: Write test first, use todo!() as placeholder
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { todo!() }
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
#[test]
fn test_add() { assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5); }
}
// cargo test → panics at 'not yet implemented'
// GREEN: Replace todo!() with minimal implementation
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 { a + b }
// cargo test → PASS, then REFACTOR while keeping tests green
Unit Tests
Module-Level Test Organization
// src/user.rs
pub struct User {
pub name: String,
pub email: String,
}
impl User {
pub fn new(name: impl Into<String>, email: impl Into<String>) -> Result<Self, String> {
let email = email.into();
if !email.contains('@') {
return Err(format!("invalid email: {email}"));
}
Ok(Self { name: name.into(), email })
}
pub fn display_name(&self) -> &str {
&self.name
}
}
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
#[test]
fn creates_user_with_valid_email() {
let user = User::new("Alice", "alice@example.com").unwrap();
assert_eq!(user.display_name(), "Alice");
assert_eq!(user.email, "alice@example.com");
}
#[test]
fn rejects_invalid_email() {
let result = User::new("Bob", "not-an-email");
assert!(result.is_err());
assert!(result.unwrap_err().contains("invalid email"));
}
}
Assertion Macros
assert_eq!(2 + 2, 4); // Equality
assert_ne!(2 + 2, 5); // Inequality
assert!(vec![1, 2, 3].contains(&2)); // Boolean
assert_eq!(value, 42, "expected 42 but got {value}"); // Custom message
assert!((0.1_f64 + 0.2 - 0.3).abs() < f64::EPSILON); // Float comparison
Error and Panic Testing
Testing Result Returns
#[test]
fn parse_returns_error_for_invalid_input() {
let result = parse_config("}{invalid");
assert!(result.is_err());
// Assert specific error variant
let err = result.unwrap_err();
assert!(matches!(err, ConfigError::ParseError(_)));
}
#[test]
fn parse_succeeds_for_valid_input() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
let config = parse_config(r#"{"port": 8080}"#)?;
assert_eq!(config.port, 8080);
Ok(()) // Test fails if any ? returns Err
}
Testing Panics
#[test]
#[should_panic]
fn panics_on_empty_input() {
process(&[]);
}
#[test]
#[should_panic(expected = "index out of bounds")]
fn panics_with_specific_message() {
let v: Vec<i32> = vec![];
let _ = v[0];
}
Integration Tests
File Structure
my_crate/
├── src/
│ └── lib.rs
├── tests/ # Integration tests
│ ├── api_test.rs # Each file is a separate test binary
│ ├── db_test.rs
│ └── common/ # Shared test utilities
│ └── mod.rs
Writing Integration Tests
// tests/api_test.rs
use my_crate::{App, Config};
#[test]
fn full_request_lifecycle() {
let config = Config::test_default();
let app = App::new(config);
let response = app.handle_request("/health");
assert_eq!(response.status, 200);
assert_eq!(response.body, "OK");
}
Async Tests
With Tokio
#[tokio::test]
async fn fetches_data_successfully() {
let client = TestClient::new().await;
let result = client.get("/data").await;
assert!(result.is_ok());
assert_eq!(result.unwrap().items.len(), 3);
}
#[tokio::test]
async fn handles_timeout() {
use std::time::Duration;
let result = tokio::time::timeout(
Duration::from_millis(100),
slow_operation(),
).await;
assert!(result.is_err(), "should have timed out");
}
Test Organization Patterns
Parameterized Tests with rstest
use rstest::{rstest, fixture};
#[rstest]
#[case("hello", 5)]
#[case("", 0)]
#[case("rust", 4)]
fn test_string_length(#[case] input: &str, #[case] expected: usize) {
assert_eq!(input.len(), expected);
}
// Fixtures
#[fixture]
fn test_db() -> TestDb {
TestDb::new_in_memory()
}
#[rstest]
fn test_insert(test_db: TestDb) {
test_db.insert("key", "value");
assert_eq!(test_db.get("key"), Some("value".into()));
}
Test Helpers
#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
use super::*;
/// Creates a test user with sensible defaults.
fn make_user(name: &str) -> User {
User::new(name, &format!("{name}@test.com")).unwrap()
}
#[test]
fn user_display() {
let user = make_user("alice");
assert_eq!(user.display_name(), "alice");
}
}
Property-Based Testing with proptest
Basic Property Tests
use proptest::prelude::*;
proptest! {
#[test]
fn encode_decode_roundtrip(input in ".*") {
let encoded = encode(&input);
let decoded = decode(&encoded).unwrap();
assert_eq!(input, decoded);
}
#[test]
fn sort_preserves_length(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
let original_len = vec.len();
vec.sort();
assert_eq!(vec.len(), original_len);
}
#[test]
fn sort_produces_ordered_output(mut vec in prop::collection::vec(any::<i32>(), 0..100)) {
vec.sort();
for window in vec.windows(2) {
assert!(window[0] <= window[1]);
}
}
}
Custom Strategies
use proptest::prelude::*;
fn valid_email() -> impl Strategy<Value = String> {
("[a-z]{1,10}", "[a-z]{1,5}")
.prop_map(|(user, domain)| format!("{user}@{domain}.com"))
}
proptest! {
#[test]
fn accepts_valid_emails(email in valid_email()) {
assert!(User::new("Test", &email).is_ok());
}
}
Mocking with mockall
Trait-Based Mocking
use mockall::{automock, predicate::eq};
#[automock]
trait UserRepository {
fn find_by_id(&self, id: u64) -> Option<User>;
fn save(&self, user: &User) -> Result<(), StorageError>;
}
#[test]
fn service_returns_user_when_found() {
let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
mock.expect_find_by_id()
.with(eq(42))
.times(1)
.returning(|_| Some(User { id: 42, name: "Alice".into() }));
let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
let user = service.get_user(42).unwrap();
assert_eq!(user.name, "Alice");
}
#[test]
fn service_returns_none_when_not_found() {
let mut mock = MockUserRepository::new();
mock.expect_find_by_id()
.returning(|_| None);
let service = UserService::new(Box::new(mock));
assert!(service.get_user(99).is_none());
}
Doc Tests
Executable Documentation
/// Adds two numbers together.
///
/// # Examples
///
/// ```
/// use my_crate::add;
///
/// assert_eq!(add(2, 3), 5);
/// assert_eq!(add(-1, 1), 0);
/// ```
pub fn add(a: i32, b: i32) -> i32 {
a + b
}
/// Parses a config string.
///
/// # Errors
///
/// Returns `Err` if the input is not valid TOML.
///
/// ```no_run
/// use my_crate::parse_config;
///
/// let config = parse_config(r#"port = 8080"#).unwrap();
/// assert_eq!(config.port, 8080);
/// ```
///
/// ```no_run
/// use my_crate::parse_config;
///
/// assert!(parse_config("}{invalid").is_err());
/// ```
pub fn parse_config(input: &str) -> Result<Config, ParseError> {
todo!()
}
Benchmarking with Criterion
# Cargo.toml
[dev-dependencies]
criterion = { version = "0.5", features = ["html_reports"] }
[[bench]]
name = "benchmark"
harness = false
// benches/benchmark.rs
use criterion::{black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};
fn fibonacci(n: u64) -> u64 {
match n {
0 | 1 => n,
_ => fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2),
}
}
fn bench_fibonacci(c: &mut Criterion) {
c.bench_function("fib 20", |b| b.iter(|| fibonacci(black_box(20))));
}
criterion_group!(benches, bench_fibonacci);
criterion_main!(benches);
Test Coverage
Running Coverage
# Install: cargo install cargo-llvm-cov (or use taiki-e/install-action in CI)
cargo llvm-cov # Summary
cargo llvm-cov --html # HTML report
cargo llvm-cov --lcov > lcov.info # LCOV format for CI
cargo llvm-cov --fail-under-lines 80 # Fail if below threshold
Coverage Targets
Code Type
Target
Critical business logic
100%
Public API
90%+
General code
80%+
Generated / FFI bindings
Exclude
Testing Commands
cargo test # Run all tests
cargo test -- --nocapture # Show println output
cargo test test_name # Run tests matching pattern
cargo test --lib # Unit tests only
cargo test --test api_test # Integration tests only
cargo test --doc # Doc tests only
cargo test --no-fail-fast # Don't stop on first failure
cargo test -- --ignored # Run ignored tests
Best Practices
DO:
Write tests FIRST (TDD)
Use #[cfg(test)] modules for unit tests
Test behavior, not implementation
Use descriptive test names that explain the scenario
Prefer assert_eq! over assert! for better error messages
Use ? in tests that return Result for cleaner error output
Keep tests independent — no shared mutable state
DON'T:
Use #[should_panic] when you can test Result::is_err() instead
Mock everything — prefer integration tests when feasible
Ignore flaky tests — fix or quarantine them
Use sleep() in tests — use channels, barriers, or tokio::time::pause()
Skip error path testing
CI Integration
# GitHub Actions
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
with:
components: clippy, rustfmt
- name: Check formatting
run: cargo fmt --check
- name: Clippy
run: cargo clippy -- -D warnings
- name: Run tests
run: cargo test
- uses: taiki-e/install-action@cargo-llvm-cov
- name: Coverage
run: cargo llvm-cov --fail-under-lines 80
Remember: Tests are documentation. They show how your code is meant to be used. Write them clearly and keep them up to date.don't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.