Unspecific error messages if the code does not compile

[junedev]

In the editor bug reports a lot of people wrote they saw '/usr/local/go/bin/go test --json .' returned exit code 2: exit status 2 as error message which wasn't helpful for them. Is there something that could be improved?

I also see the generic "an error occurred" for certain solutions.

I will post some examples below.
My feeling is this happens when the (test) code does not compile.

[junedev]

Example 1

Running the tests on the website against the current lasagna stub:

package lasagna

// TODO: define the 'OvenTime' constant

// TODO: define the 'RemainingOvenTime()' function

// TODO: define the 'PreparationTime()' function

// TODO: define the 'ElapsedTime()' function

[junedev]

Example 2

Typo on the package name

package lasagnaaaa

// OvenTime represents the expected baking time in minutes.
const OvenTime = 40

// RemainingOvenTime returns the remaining minutes based on the `actual` minutes already in the oven.
func RemainingOvenTime(actual int) int {
    return OvenTime - actual
}

// PreparationTime calculates the time needed to prepare the lasagna based on the amount of layers.
func PreparationTime(numberOfLayers int) int {
    return numberOfLayers * 2
}

// ElapsedTime calculates the total time needed to create and bake a lasagna.
func ElapsedTime(numberOfLayers, actualMinutesInOven int) int {
    return PreparationTime(numberOfLayers) + actualMinutesInOven
}

[junedev]

Example 3

Missing variable (here I deleted the OvenTime constant):

package lasagna

// RemainingOvenTime returns the remaining minutes based on the `actual` minutes already in the oven.
func RemainingOvenTime(actual int) int {
    return OvenTime - actual
}

// PreparationTime calculates the time needed to prepare the lasagna based on the amount of layers.
func PreparationTime(numberOfLayers int) int {
    return numberOfLayers * 2
}

// ElapsedTime calculates the total time needed to create and bake a lasagna.
func ElapsedTime(numberOfLayers, actualMinutesInOven int) int {
    return PreparationTime(numberOfLayers) + actualMinutesInOven
}

[junedev]

Example 4

Missing function (here I deleted RemainingOvenTime):

package lasagna

// OvenTime represents the expected baking time in minutes.
const OvenTime = 40

// PreparationTime calculates the time needed to prepare the lasagna based on the amount of layers.
func PreparationTime(numberOfLayers int) int {
    return numberOfLayers * 2
}

// ElapsedTime calculates the total time needed to create and bake a lasagna.
func ElapsedTime(numberOfLayers, actualMinutesInOven int) int {
    return PreparationTime(numberOfLayers) + actualMinutesInOven
}

[junedev]

I narrowed it down a bit. I found out that the actual compiler error is written to stderr but we only return what was written to stdout currently.

[junedev]

It turned out there were two issues here:

• The content of stderr was missing in the error message.
• The test runner did check whether the code under test does compile but did not check whether the tests themselves compile (which they don't if the code is missing a function for example).

The PR fixes both issues.