Question

Here’s the method I want to test

    private static void selectTop20Tags(Dictionary<string, int> list)
    {

         //Outputs the top 20 most common hashtags in descending order
         foreach (KeyValuePair<string, int> pair in list.OrderByDescending(key => key.Value).Take(20))
         {
             Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}", pair.Key, pair.Value);
         }

    }

I don’t know how I would test this, I’ve been researching it all day and try various things but cannot get it to work.

I was thinking of including some code such as

#if TEST
            if ((length of list don't know how you would do it) <= 20)
            {
                StreamWriter log2;
                // appends file
                log2 = File.AppendText("logOfTests.txt");
                // Writes to the file
                log2.WriteLine("PASS");
                log2.WriteLine();

                // Closes the stream
                log2.Close();
            }
#endif

I think I just need to see an example and I would know.

Answer 1

I would advise learning about Unit Testing. Read this article on MSDN and search on Google for how to write unit tests. They are a great way to test individual units of code and so should be ideal for your situation.

I would also advise separating out UI-related code, such as calls to MessageBox, other UI elements and Console; from the code you wish to test. This will make it much easier to test the logic and execution of your code.