claudes_game/continue.md

Test Refactoring Optimization Strategy

Tooling

• scripts/sim_engine.py — Generic orbital mechanics simulator (Python, TOML 1.0 configs)
  • Replicates C++ physics: Kepler propagation, orbital↔Cartesian transforms, drift detection
  • Multi-body hierarchical propagation with global/local coordinate tracking
  • Use for precalculating expected values (transition times, final states, energy conservation)
• TOML configs in tests/ must use TOML 1.0 inline table syntax (single-line {})
  • Old configs in old_tests/ use multiline inline tables (toml-c17 style) — keep for reference
  • Python's tomllib requires single-line inline tables

1. Structure

• One SCENARIO("description") per logical test group, with [tag1][tag2] annotations
• Shared fixture: all constants, structs, and variables declared between SCENARIO opening and first SECTION
• Precompute expected values analytically at fixture level (use scripts/*.py for complex simulations)

2. Duplication elimination

• Use lambdas that capture the fixture for repeated setup→call→assert patterns
• Reuse shared structs in-place (mutate fields rather than recreating)
• Single-line SECTIONs when body is one statement: SECTION("name") { helper(arg); }

3. Assertions

• using Catch::Matchers::WithinAbs; after includes
• REQUIRE_THAT(value, WithinAbs(expected, tolerance)) — never Approx()
• Tolerances based on actual observed errors, tightened aggressively (1e-12 for angles, 1e-6 for meters, etc.)
• Replace qualitative checks (a > b) with quantitative (WithinAbs(expected, tol))
• INFO("label: " << value) for debugging context

4. Process per file

• Process one test file at a time.
• For each file, discuss with the user how to precompute REQUIRE values — analytical formulas, Python scripts, or simulation runs.
• Copy from old_tests/ to tests/, rewrite, rebuild, verify.
• Always ask for review before moving to the next file.
• Only commit when asked.

5. Testing Harness TODOs

• OrbitalMetrics::angular_position — uses atan2(y, x) which is XY-plane only; meaningless for inclined orbits