Unit Test Only Passes in Debug Mode, Fails in Run Mode - visual-studio-2010

Question

I have the following UnitTest:
[TestMethod]
public void NewGamesHaveDifferentSecretCodesTothePreviousGame()
{
var theGame = new BullsAndCows();
List<int> firstCode = new List<int>(theGame.SecretCode);
theGame.NewGame();
List<int> secondCode = new List<int>(theGame.SecretCode);
theGame.NewGame();
List<int> thirdCode = new List<int>(theGame.SecretCode);
CollectionAssert.AreNotEqual(firstCode, secondCode);
CollectionAssert.AreNotEqual(secondCode, thirdCode);
}
When I run it in Debug mode, my code passes the test, but when I run the test as normal (run mode) it does not pass. The exception thrown is:
CollectionAssert.AreNotEqual failed. (Both collection contain same elements).
Here is my code:
// constructor
public BullsAndCows()
{
Gueses = new List<Guess>();
SecretCode = generateRequiredSecretCode();
previousCodes = new Dictionary<int, List<int>>();
}
public void NewGame()
{
var theCode = generateRequiredSecretCode();
if (previousCodes.Count != 0)
{
if(!isPreviouslySeen(theCode))
{
SecretCode = theCode;
previousCodes.Add(previousCodes.Last().Key + 1, SecretCode);
}
}
else
{
SecretCode = theCode;
previousCodes.Add(0, theCode);
}
}
previousCodes is a property on the class, and its Data type is Dictionary key integer, value List of integers. SecretCode is also a property on the class, and its Data type is a List of integers
If I were to make a guess, I would say the reason is the NewGame() method is called again, whilst the first call hasn't really finished what it needs to do. As you can see, there are other methods being called from within the NewGame() method (e.g. generateRequiredSecretCode()).
When running in Debug mode, the slow pace of my pressing F10 gives sufficient time for processes to end.
But I am not really sure how to fix that, assuming I am right in my identification of the cause.

Answer 1

What happens to SecretCode when generateRequiredSecretCode generates a duplicate? It appears to be unhandled.
One possibility is that you are getting a duplicate, so SecretCode remain the same as its previous value. How does the generator work?
Also, you didn't show how the BullsAndCows constructor is initializing SecretCode? Is it calling NewGame?
I doubt the speed of keypresses has anything to do with it, since your test method calls the functions in turn without waiting for input. And unless generateReq... is spawning a thread, it will complete whatever it is doing before it returns.
--after update--
I see 2 bugs.
1) The very first SecretCode generated in the constructor is not added to the list of previousCodes. So the duplicate checking won't catch if the 2nd game has the same code.
2) after previousCodes is populated, you don't handle the case where you generate a duplicate. a duplicate is previouslySeen, so you don't add it to the previousCodes list, but you don't update SecretCode either, so it keeps the old value.
I'm not exactly sure why this is only showing up in release mode - but it could be a difference in the way debug mode handles the random number generator. See How to randomize in WPF. Release mode is faster, so it uses the same timestamp as seed, so it does in fact generate exactly the same sequence of digits.
If that's the case, you can fix it by making random a class property instead of creating a new one for each call to generator.