diff --git a/schala-lang/language/src/eval.rs b/schala-lang/language/src/eval.rs
index a9d99c5..3be52cd 100644
--- a/schala-lang/language/src/eval.rs
+++ b/schala-lang/language/src/eval.rs
@@ -498,21 +498,13 @@ mod eval_tests {
   use std::cell::RefCell;
   use std::rc::Rc;
 
-  use crate::tokenizing::{Token, tokenize};
-  use crate::parsing::ParseResult;
-  use crate::ast::AST;
   use crate::symbol_table::SymbolTable;
   use crate::eval::State;
 
-  fn parse(tokens: Vec<Token>) -> ParseResult<AST> {
-    let mut parser = crate::parsing::Parser::new(tokens);
-    parser.parse()
-  }
-
   fn evaluate_all_outputs(input: &str) -> Vec<Result<String, String>> {
     let symbol_table = Rc::new(RefCell::new(SymbolTable::new()));
     let mut state = State::new(symbol_table);
-    let ast = parse(tokenize(input)).unwrap();
+    let ast = crate::util::quick_ast(input);
     state.symbol_table_handle.borrow_mut().add_top_level_symbols(&ast).unwrap();
     let reduced = ast.reduce(&state.symbol_table_handle.borrow());
     let all_output = state.evaluate(reduced, true);
diff --git a/schala-lang/language/src/symbol_table.rs b/schala-lang/language/src/symbol_table.rs
index 0fb3606..313bc05 100644
--- a/schala-lang/language/src/symbol_table.rs
+++ b/schala-lang/language/src/symbol_table.rs
@@ -15,14 +15,18 @@ struct SymbolPath {
 
 //cf. p. 150 or so of Language Implementation Patterns
 pub struct SymbolTable {
-  values: HashMap<SymbolPath, Symbol> //TODO this will eventually have real type information
+  values: HashMap<SymbolPath, Symbol>,
+  scope_name_stack: Vec<String>,
 }
 
 //TODO add various types of lookups here, maybe multiple hash tables internally? also make values
 //non-public
 impl SymbolTable {
   pub fn new() -> SymbolTable {
-    SymbolTable { values: HashMap::new() }
+    SymbolTable {
+      values: HashMap::new(),
+      scope_name_stack: vec![],
+    }
   }
 
   pub fn add_new_symbol(&mut self, path: &Rc<String>, symbol: Symbol) {
@@ -174,3 +178,31 @@ impl LocalTypeContext {
     Rc::new(format!("{}", (('a' as u8) + n) as char))
   }
 }
+
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod symbol_table_tests {
+  use super::*;
+
+  macro_rules! values_in_table {
+    //TODO multiple values
+    ($source:expr, $single_value:expr) => {
+      {
+      let mut symbol_table = SymbolTable::new();
+      let ast = crate::util::quick_ast($source);
+      symbol_table.add_top_level_symbols(&ast).unwrap();
+      println!("TAAABL: {}", symbol_table.debug_symbol_table());
+      match symbol_table.lookup_by_name($single_value) {
+        Some(_spec) => (),
+        None => panic!(),
+      };
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  #[test]
+  fn basic_symbol_table() {
+    values_in_table! { "let a = 10; fn b() { 20 }", &Rc::new("b".to_string()) };
+  }
+}
+
diff --git a/schala-lang/language/src/typechecking.rs b/schala-lang/language/src/typechecking.rs
index 2dcc082..9b5480c 100644
--- a/schala-lang/language/src/typechecking.rs
+++ b/schala-lang/language/src/typechecking.rs
@@ -444,18 +444,11 @@ impl<'a> TypeContext<'a> {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod typechecking_tests {
   use super::*;
-  use crate::ast::AST;
-
-  fn parse(input: &str) -> AST {
-    let tokens = crate::tokenizing::tokenize(input);
-    let mut parser = crate::parsing::Parser::new(tokens);
-    parser.parse().unwrap()
-  }
 
   macro_rules! assert_type_in_fresh_context {
     ($string:expr, $type:expr) => {
       let mut tc = TypeContext::new();
-      let ref ast = parse($string);
+      let ref ast = crate::util::quick_ast($string);
       let ty = tc.typecheck(ast).unwrap();
       assert_eq!(ty, $type)
     }
diff --git a/schala-lang/language/src/util.rs b/schala-lang/language/src/util.rs
index 1df059b..69d8749 100644
--- a/schala-lang/language/src/util.rs
+++ b/schala-lang/language/src/util.rs
@@ -41,3 +41,9 @@ impl<'a, T, V> ScopeStack<'a, T, V> where T: Hash + Eq {
   }
 }
 
+/// this is intended for use in tests, and does no error-handling whatsoever
+pub fn quick_ast(input: &str) -> crate::ast::AST {
+  let tokens = crate::tokenizing::tokenize(input);
+  let mut parser = crate::parsing::Parser::new(tokens);
+  parser.parse().unwrap()
+}