Unit test framework for compiled Core programs

[patrickt]

The FileCheck-esque testing framework for semantic-python fixtures has proven versatile. However, it doesn’t offer a pretty fundamental characteristic: the ability to run a compiled program and verify its output. This is because I haven’t needed it up until now: it was sufficient for me to specify exactly what output I expected.

I now want not just to test output but behavior. For example, I need to be able to specify that the program

class Foo(object):
  def m(self): “foo”

class Bar(Foo):
  def m(self): “bar”

n = Bar().m()

I want to verify that compiling that module and evaluating n in its context returns a Core triple with class str and contents ”bar”.

I don’t have any great ideas on how to do this, but I’m opening this so that I can think about it.