I like this. TDD purists would probably complain that you don’t assert a specific value, but in practice I know a lot of people hardcode the assert values for their tests based on the test output. So this just automated that, I guess. If I was looking for a new test framework, I would consider this.
- Snapshot testing is like version-control but for the outputs rather than the inputs (source code).
- Asserts in traditional unit tests are like "block lists" specifying which changes aren't allowed. Instead, snapshot testing allows you to specify an "allow list" of acceptable differences (e.g. timestamps).
Glad to hear. Yes, your understanding is very accurate. TDD requires a different mindset. Our primary focus has been do a great job of finding side effects of code changes to existing systems such as day-to-day refactors and occasional rewrites. From my personal experience, these are the scenarios in which having hard-coded expected values in assertions is inconvenient and requires mechanical adjustments. Thanks for taking the time to review this and sharing your thoughts.
