Add Node.js assert migration guide documenting deepStrictEqual behavioral difference

[Copilot]

Node.js assert.deepStrictEqual uses structural equality (passes for different object instances). Tripwire's deepStrictEqual requires exact instance identity. This breaks tests migrating from Node.js that compare factory-generated objects.

Changes

Migration Guide

• Created docs/migration/migrating-from-node-assert.md (622 lines)
  • Documents deepStrictEqual instance vs structural equality difference
  • Provides migration strategy: use deepEqual for object comparisons
  • Includes API compatibility table, migration patterns, and Copilot prompts
  • Covers common patterns: Object.assign, spread operator, factory functions, JSON operations

Documentation Links

• Added migration guide references to README.md, docs/README.md, core/README.md

Example

// Node.js - passes with structural equality
const result = Object.assign({}, { a: 1 });
assert.deepStrictEqual(result, { a: 1 }); // ✅

// Tripwire - fails, requires same instance
assert.deepStrictEqual(result, { a: 1 }); // ❌
assert.deepEqual(result, { a: 1 });        // ✅ Use this instead

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>[Issue] tripwire's deepStrictEqual has stricter instance checking than Node's assert</issue_title>
<issue_description>Details:

• Node's assert.deepStrictEqual passes when comparing structurally identical objects created via objAssign({}, ...)
• Tripwire's assert.deepStrictEqual fails on the same comparisons, requiring exact instance identity
• This affects tests for functions like deepMerge and mergeOptions that return new object instances

Example:

// This passes with Node's assert but fails with tripwire
const result = objAssign({}, { a: 1 });
assert.deepStrictEqual(result, { a: 1 }); // Fails: different instances

Workaround: Use deepEqual instead of deepStrictEqual for new object instances.</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Add a migration guide to the docs/migration folder for migrating from node native assertions to tripwire and include relevant links to it</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes [Issue] tripwire's deepStrictEqual has stricter instance checking than Node's assert #269

---

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[nev21]

@copilot create 2 new issues detailing the missing node assertion functions and workarounds so they can be scheduled to be implemented, separate the synchronous and asynchronous (Promise) assertions into different issues

[Copilot]

@copilot create 2 new issues detailing the missing node assertion functions and workarounds so they can be scheduled to be implemented, separate the synchronous and asynchronous (Promise) assertions i...

I don't have permissions to create GitHub issues directly. However, I've prepared the issue details below that you can use to create them:

---

Issue 1: Add synchronous string matching assertions

Title: [Feature Request] Implement assert.match() and assert.doesNotMatch()

Description:

## Feature Request

Add synchronous string matching assertions to match Node.js assert API.

### Missing Functions

- `assert.match(string, regexp, message?)` - Expects the string input to match the regular expression
- `assert.doesNotMatch(string, regexp, message?)` - Expects the string input to NOT match the regular expression

### Current Workarounds

```js
// Instead of assert.match()
expect(string).to.match(regexp);

// Instead of assert.doesNotMatch()
expect(string).to.not.match(regexp);

Node.js Documentation

• assert.match()
• assert.doesNotMatch()

Related

See migration guide: Migrating from Node.js Assert

---

**Issue 2: Add async/Promise assertion functions**

Title: `[Feature Request] Implement assert.rejects() and assert.doesNotReject()`

Description:
```markdown
## Feature Request

Add async/Promise assertion functions to match Node.js assert API.

### Missing Functions

- `assert.rejects(asyncFn, error?, message?)` - Awaits the asyncFn promise or, if asyncFn is a function, calls the function and awaits the returned promise. It will then check that the promise is rejected.
- `assert.doesNotReject(asyncFn, error?, message?)` - Awaits the asyncFn promise or, if asyncFn is a function, calls the function and awaits the returned promise. It will then check that the promise is not rejected.

### Current Workarounds

```js
// Instead of assert.rejects()
await assert.throws(async () => await asyncFn());

// Instead of assert.doesNotReject()
await assert.doesNotThrow(async () => await asyncFn());

Node.js Documentation

• assert.rejects()
• assert.doesNotReject()

Related

See migration guide: Migrating from Node.js Assert

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds a new migration guide to help users moving from Node.js’s built-in assert module to Tripwire, with emphasis on behavioral differences (notably deepStrictEqual) and links surfaced from existing READMEs.

Changes:

• Added a new documentation page: docs/migration/migrating-from-node-assert.md
• Linked the new migration guide from README.md, docs/README.md, and core/README.md

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

File	Description
docs/migration/migrating-from-node-assert.md	New migration guide describing Node assert → Tripwire migration patterns and API differences
docs/README.md	Adds a “Migration Guides” section linking to the new Node assert migration guide
core/README.md	Adds documentation links for expression adapter + migration guides
README.md	Updates top-level docs section to include explicit migration guide links

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 91.43%. Comparing base (b1891ef) to head (a3a98a9).
⚠️ Report is 1 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@           Coverage Diff           @@
##             main     #270   +/-   ##
=======================================
  Coverage   91.43%   91.43%           
=======================================
  Files          78       78           
  Lines        3445     3445           
  Branches      887      887           
=======================================
  Hits         3150     3150           
  Misses        295      295           

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[nevware21-bot]

Approved by nevware21-bot

[nev21]

LGTM

[nevware21-bot]

Approved by nevware21-bot