Testing

Two styles:

  1. C++ unit tests in tests/*.cpp — lexer, parser, sema, macros, LSP, CLI.
  2. Example emit tests — sere --emit-llvm examples/foo.sere must succeed.

CMake wires them in tests/CMakeLists.txt. SERE_STDLIB is set to the repo stdlib/ so prelude resolution does not depend on install layout.

Run

powershell
. .\scripts\env.ps1
cmake --build --preset windows-clang-cl-relwithdebinfo
ctest --preset windows-clang-cl-relwithdebinfo --output-on-failure

Single test:

powershell
ctest --preset windows-clang-cl-relwithdebinfo -R sere.test.sema --output-on-failure

Where to put a new test

You changed…Add…
Lexer / keywordstests/lex_basic.cpp
Grammartests/parse_fn.cpp or tests/parse_lang.cpp
Types / pointers / inferencetests/sema_types.cpp or tests/sema_control.cpp
Macrostests/macro_tt.cpp, macro_expand.cpp, macro_errors.cpp
# type: ignoretests/type_ignore.cpp
LSP hover / tokenstests/macro_lsp.cpp or tests/lsp_semantic.cpp
sere init/buildtests/project_cli.cpp
.slib pack / importtests/library_pack.cpp
@private exportstests/import_private.cpp
An optimization switch or an IR rewritetests/opt_options.cpp
An optimization switch end to endadd_test(NAME sere.opt.your …) with --emit-llvm and the flags
A Serem passtests/smoke_serem.cpp or a new case in tests/opt_options.cpp
End-to-end language featureexamples/your.sere + add_test(NAME sere.example.your …)

Optimization tests

tests/opt_options.cpp links sere_codegen and exercises both halves of the optimizer:

  • flag parsing: levels, per-pass switches, the --no-… inverses, --release, --debug, and the clang flags derived from them;
  • the IR rewrites: null-check folding, panic-block removal, stack promotion, free elision, plus llvm::verifyModule after each rewrite so a pass that produces invalid IR fails the test;
  • the pipelines themselves: runOptPipeline must parse and run for a level, a flag-composed pipeline, and the LTO pipeline. A pass name that LLVM does not know fails here rather than in a user's build.

Sere's own flags are also covered end to end in tests/CMakeLists.txt (sere.opt.release, sere.opt.pass_flags, sere.opt.custom_pipeline, sere.opt.checks_off, sere.opt.size), which is what catches a switch that parses but breaks emission.

Example tests only require --emit-llvm success (typecheck + IR). That is enough to catch most frontend/backend mismatches without running the .exe.

When the feature is runtime-visible (GC, files, Qt), add a small .sere example and document how to run it; keep CI on --emit-llvm unless the test harness can invoke the binary reliably.

Style

  • One focused assertion path; fail("why") on error.
  • Use Frontend::analyze when you need prelude, imports, and macros together.
  • Direct Parser + TypeChecker is finer-grained when you are isolating sema.
  • Do not spawn sere --lsp in unit tests.