While ASSERT_* macros cause termination of test case, EXPECT_* macros continue its evaluation. I would like to know which is the criteria to decide whether to use one or the other.
Use ASSERT
when the condition must hold - if it doesn't the test stops right there. Use this when the remainder of the test doesn't have semantic meaning without this condition holding.
Use EXPECT
when the condition should hold, but in cases where it doesn't we can still get value out of continuing the test. (The test will still ultimately fail at the end, though.)
The rule of thumb is: use EXPECT
by default, unless you require something to hold for the remainder of the tests, in which case you should use ASSERT
for that particular condition.
This is echoed within the primer:
Usually
EXPECT_*
are preferred, as they allow more than one failures to be reported in a test. However, you should useASSERT_*
if it doesn't make sense to continue when the assertion in question fails.