Is Assert.Fail() considered bad practice?

Question

I use Assert.Fail a lot when doing TDD. I\'m usually working on one test at a time but when I get ideas for things I want to implement later I quickly write an empty test where

Answer 1

Beware Assert.Fail and its corrupting influence to make developers write silly or broken tests. For example:

[TestMethod]
public void TestWork()
{
    try {
        Work();
    }
    catch {
        Assert.Fail();
    }
}

This is silly, because the try-catch is redundant. A test fails if it throws an exception.

Also

[TestMethod]
public void TestDivide()
{
    try {
        Divide(5,0);
        Assert.Fail();
    } catch { }
}

This is broken, the test will always pass whatever the outcome of the Divide function. Again, a test fails if and only if it throws an exception.