How best to compare two arrays in C++ with unit tests to verify they match?

Question

Currently, I've got a program which reads and extracts multiple pieces of data from a file, and i would like to ensure those values correctly match the expected values, I'm aware of how this should work in other programming languages such as python with lists and tuples etc, however i am unsure as to the best approach to use unit tests within C++ whilst keeping the code as minimal and efficient as possible. I've currently got multiple arrays all of which i wish to verify that they meet their expected values, so i can test the program with differing input files.

To describe this, in essence, i wish to verify the contents of e.g.

int arrayone [5] = { 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };

are equal to { 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 }

and to complete the unit test successfully if the values are equal, and to fail if they are not equal or not in the same order. Thus, i am looking for the best method to approach this.

Answer 1

Use a C++ std::array instead and you'll get the benefit from all the methods it exposes, like operator==:

#include <iostream>
#include <array>

int main() {
    std::array arrayone{ 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };
    std::array facit{ 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };

    if(arrayone==facit) {
        std::cout << "true
";
    } else {
        std::cout << "false
";
    }
}

Or for C++11 and C++14:

std::array<int, 5> arrayone{ 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };
std::array<int, 5> facit{ 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 };