This is the old Assert way: Assert.That(contestant.Points, Is.EqualTo(1337)); For your troubles, you get this message, when it fails: Expected 1337 but was 0

How it Should be: contestant.Points.ShouldBe(1337); Which is just syntax, so far, but check out the message when it fails: contestant.Points should be 1337 but was 0

It might be easy to underestimate how useful this is. Another example, side by side: Assert.That(map.IndexOfValue("boo"), Is.EqualTo(2)); // -> Expected 2 but was 1 map.IndexOfValue("boo").ShouldBe(2); // -> map.IndexOfValue("boo") should be 2 but was 1

Shouldly uses the variables within the ShouldBe statement to report on errors, which makes diagnosing easier.

The Shouldly library has other features. It integrates with RhinoMocks, to give clear messages about expectation failures: Here's the message without Shouldly; helpful, but not great... Rhino.Mocks.Exceptions.ExpectationViolationException: IContestant.PlayGame("Shouldly"); Expected #1, Actual #0

Shouldly's message: Expected: IContestant.PlayGame("Shouldly"); Recorded: IContestant.PlayGame("Debugging"); IContestant.PlayGame("Logging"); IContestant.PlayGame("Drinking coffee"); IContestant.PlayGame("Commenting out test");

Other Shouldly features: ShouldBe ShouldBeGreaterThan ShouldBeLessThan ShouldContain ShouldNotContain ShouldBeCloseTo