What is a Generative Unit Test Framework?

Question

On stackoverflow I've come across on mbunit. On its page it states that mbunit is a generative unit test framework, but I can't find anywhere what a Generative unit test framework stands for. I was hoping to get : A definition Links to articles about what a Generative Unit Test framework is and isn't.

Answer 1

A bit of a guess here. I'm not aware of any technical meaning for generative. I think maybe it could be as simple as meaning you can generate unit tests with it.

This is the most relevant link I can find:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/autp5.aspx
It refers to generating test data and stubs. So, maybe there's more to it. I'm not sure if mbUnit means it in this way though.

Answer 2

My guess is that this is one of the frameworks that follows your code, does a bit of static analysis and tries to come up with a test case that gives good coverage.

However, this is not proper unit testing because it would cover something that you already have (as opposite to covering something that you WANT to have). In this case, it will help you make sure that further changes won't break the current behavior but won't help you test that the current behavior is the right one.