diff --git a/test/Class/ConstructorTest.js b/test/Class/ConstructorTest.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..605a54c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Class/ConstructorTest.js
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+/**
+ * Tests class module constructor creation
+ *
+ *  Copyright (C) 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Mike Gerwitz
+ *
+ *  This file is part of GNU ease.js.
+ *
+ *  ease.js is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+require( 'common' ).testCase(
+{
+    setUp: function()
+    {
+        this.Sut = this.require( 'class' );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * As a sanity check, ensure that the constructor is not invoked upon
+     * defining the class. (Note that the case of ensuring that it is not
+     * called when creating a subtype is handled by the ExtendTest case.)
+     */
+    'Constructor should not be invoked before instantiation': function()
+    {
+        var called = false;
+        this.Sut.extend( { __construct: function() { called = true; } } );
+
+        this.assertNotEqual( called, true );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * Since __construct is a special method that is not recognized by
+     * ECMAScript itself, we must ensure that it is invoked when the class
+     * is instantiated. Further, it should only be called a single time,
+     * which is particularly important if it produces side-effects.
+     */
+    'Constructor should be invoked once upon instantiation': function()
+    {
+        var called = 0;
+
+        var Foo = this.Sut.extend(
+        {
+            __construct: function() { called++; }
+        } );
+
+        // note that we're not yet testing the more consise new-less
+        // invocation style
+        new Foo();
+        this.assertEqual( called, 1 );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * Once invoked, the __construct method should be bound to the newly
+     * created instance.
+     */
+    'Constructor should be invoked within context of new instance':
+    function()
+    {
+        var expected = Math.random();
+
+        var Foo = this.Sut.extend(
+            {
+                val: null,
+                __construct: function() { this.val = expected; }
+            } );
+
+        // if `this' was bound to the instance, then __construct should set
+        // VAL to EXPECTED
+        var inst = new Foo();
+        this.assertEqual( inst.val, expected );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * All arguments passed to the constructor (that is, by invoking the
+     * ``class'') should be passed to __construct, unchanged and
+     * uncopied---that is, references should be retained.
+     */
+    'Constructor arguments should be passed unchanged to __construct':
+    function()
+    {
+        var args  = [ "foo", { bar: 'baz' }, [ 'moo', 'cow' ] ],
+            given = null;
+
+        var Foo = this.Sut.extend(
+        {
+            __construct: function()
+            {
+                given = Array.prototype.slice.call( arguments, 0 );
+            }
+        } );
+
+        new Foo( args[ 0 ], args[ 1 ], args[ 2 ] );
+
+        // make sure we have everything and didn't get anything extra
+        this.assertEqual( given.length, args.length );
+
+        var i = args.length;
+        while ( i-- )
+        {
+            this.assertStrictEqual( given[ i ], args[ i ],
+                "Ctor argument mismatch: " + i
+            );
+        }
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * If a subtype does not define its own constructor, then its parent's
+     * should be called by default. Note that this behavior---as is clear by
+     * the name __construct---is modelled after PHP; Java classes, for
+     * instance, do not inherit their parents' constructors.
+     */
+    'Parent constructor should be invoked for subtype if not overridden':
+    function()
+    {
+        var called = false;
+
+        var Sub = this.Sut.extend(
+        {
+            __construct: function() { called = true; }
+        } ).extend( {} );
+
+        new Sub();
+        this.assertOk( called );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * Classes created through ease.js do not require use of the `new'
+     * keyword, which allows for a much more natural, concise, and less
+     * error-prone syntax. Ensure that a new instance is created even when
+     * it is omitted.
+     *
+     * The rest of the tests above would then stand, since they use the
+     * `new' keyword and this concise format has no choice but to ultimately
+     * do the same; otherwise, it would not be recognized by instanceof.
+     */
+    'Constructor does not require `new\' keyword': function()
+    {
+        var Foo = this.Sut.extend( {} );
+
+        this.assertOk( new Foo() instanceof Foo );  // sanity check
+        this.assertOk( Foo() instanceof Foo );
+    },
+
+
+
+    /**
+     * In certain OO languages, one would prevent a class from being
+     * instantiated by declaring the constructor as protected or private. To
+     * me (Mike Gerwitz), this is cryptic. A better method would simply be
+     * to throw an exception. Perhaps, in the future, an alternative will be
+     * provided for consistency.
+     *
+     * The constructor must be public. (It is for this reason that you will
+     * often see the convention of omitting visibility keywords entirely for
+     * __construct, since public is the default and there is no other
+     * option.)
+     */
+    '__construct must be public': function()
+    {
+        var Sut = this.Sut;
+
+        this.assertThrows( function()
+        {
+            Sut( { 'protected __construct': function() {} } );
+        }, TypeError, "Constructor should not be able to be protected" );
+
+        this.assertThrows( function()
+        {
+            Sut( { 'private __construct': function() {} } );
+        }, TypeError, "Constructor should not be able to be private" );
+    },
+
+
+    /**
+     * When a constructor is instantiated conventionally in ECMAScript, the
+     * instance's `constructor' property is set to the constructor that was
+     * used to instantiate it.  The same should be true for class instances.
+     *
+     * This will also be important for reflection.
+     */
+    '`constructor\' property is properly set to class object': function()
+    {
+        var Foo = this.Sut.extend( {} );
+        this.assertStrictEqual( Foo().constructor, Foo );
+    },
+} );
diff --git a/test/test-class-constructor.js b/test/test-class-constructor.js
deleted file mode 100644
index a35423a..0000000
--- a/test/test-class-constructor.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,184 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Tests class module constructor creation
- *
- *  Copyright (C) 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Mike Gerwitz
- *
- *  This file is part of GNU ease.js.
- *
- *  ease.js is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
- *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
- *  (at your option) any later version.
- *
- *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- *  GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- */
-
-var common = require( './common' ),
-    assert = require( 'assert' ),
-    Class  = common.require( 'class' );
-
-// these two variables are declared outside of the class to ensure that they
-// will still be set even if the context of the constructor is wrong
-var construct_count   = 0,
-    construct_context = null,
-    construct_args    = null,
-
-// create a basic test class
-    Foo = Class.extend(
-    {
-        __construct: function()
-        {
-            construct_count++;
-            construct_context = this;
-            construct_args    = arguments;
-        },
-    })
-;
-
-
-assert.ok(
-    ( Foo.prototype.__construct instanceof Function ),
-    "Provided properties should be copied to the new class prototype"
-);
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_count,
-    0,
-    "Constructor should not be called before class is instantiated"
-);
-
-var args = [ 'foo', 'bar' ],
-    obj  = new Foo( args[0], args[1] );
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_count,
-    1,
-    "Constructor should be invoked once the class is instantiated"
-);
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_context.__iid,
-    obj.__iid,
-    "Constructor should be invoked within the context of the class instance"
-);
-
-assert.notEqual(
-    construct_args,
-    null,
-    "Constructor arguments should be passed to the constructor"
-);
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_args.length,
-    args.length,
-    "All arguments should be passed to the constructor"
-);
-
-// check the argument values
-for ( var i = 0, len = args.length; i < len; i++ )
-{
-    assert.equal(
-        construct_args[ i ],
-        args[ i ],
-        "Arguments should be passed to the constructor: " + i
-    );
-}
-
-var SubFoo = Foo.extend(
-{
-    args: [ 'should', 'be', 'overwritten' ],
-} );
-
-construct_count   = 0;
-construct_context = null;
-
-var args2  = [ 'fried', 'pickle' ],
-    subobj = new SubFoo( args2[ 0 ], args2[ 1 ] );
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_count,
-    1,
-    "Parent constructor should be called for subtype if not overridden"
-);
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_context.__iid,
-    subobj.__iid,
-    "Parent constructor is run in context of the subtype"
-);
-
-// this should be implied by the previous test, but let's add it for some peace
-// of mind
-assert.ok(
-    ( ( construct_args[ 0 ] === args2[ 0 ] )
-        && ( construct_args[ 1 ] == args2[ 1 ] )
-    ),
-    "Parent constructor sets values on subtype"
-);
-
-
-var subobj2 = SubFoo( args2[ 0 ], args2[ 1 ] );
-
-assert.ok(
-    ( subobj2 instanceof SubFoo ),
-    "Constructor is self-invoking"
-);
-
-assert.equal(
-    construct_context.__iid,
-    subobj2.__iid,
-    "Self-invoking constructor is run in the context of the new object"
-);
-
-assert.ok(
-    ( ( construct_args[ 0 ] === args2[ 0 ] )
-        && ( construct_args[ 1 ] == args2[ 1 ] )
-    ),
-    "Self-invoking constructor receives arguments"
-);
-
-
-/**
- * In PHP, one would prevent a class from being instantiated by declaring the
- * constructor as protected or private. To me, this is cryptic. A better method
- * would simply be to throw an exception. Perhaps, in the future, an alternative
- * will be provided for consistency.
- *
- * The constructor must be public.
- */
-( function testConstructorCannotBeDeclaredAsProtectedOrPrivate()
-{
-    assert['throws']( function()
-    {
-        Class( { 'protected __construct': function() {} } );
-    }, TypeError, "Constructor cannot be protected" );
-
-    assert['throws']( function()
-    {
-        Class( { 'private __construct': function() {} } );
-    }, TypeError, "Constructor cannot be private" );
-} )();
-
-
-/**
- * When a constructor is instantiated, the instance's 'constructor' property is
- * set to the constructor that was used to instantiate it. The same should be
- * true for class instances.
- *
- * This will also be important for reflection.
- */
-( function testConsructorPropertyIsProperlySetToClass()
-{
-    var Foo = Class( {} );
-
-    assert.ok( Foo().constructor === Foo,
-        "Instance constructor should be set to class"
-    );
-} )();
-