The open-source unit testing framework- jUnit uses the Java programming language to create and execute automated tests. When using junit testing, developers need to re-execute test cases upon each addition to the code which helps to ensure that the resultant code is free from breaks. There are several graphs that help developers take note of the progress of code tests. The green-colored graph indicates smooth test executions while a red one indicates that the test has failed. With jUnit developers can create reliable Java code that is almost totally free from bugs.
Java software experts concede that java unit test is the leading regression testing tool. The term “regression testing” is used to refer to software tests that ensure that recent additions don’t have any adverse effect on the previously created code.
Top use cases
jUnit testing functions exceptionally well in the following use cases:
You need to print helpful error messages- You can do this through the assertXXX() methods. It considers the conditions and prints messages through communication of results with the “main” class.
Don’t want to write runners-jUnit itself provides the “main” runner class which means developers don’t need to write any runners. Further, the framework detects test methods automatically using the reflection methods. Developers can also add new tests which the framework can detect automatically by using the @Test annotation.
IDE integration- jUnit integrates seamlessly with Eclipse and its integration with the Gradle and Maven is similarly comprehensive which makes test executions easy without you needing to create custom configurations for code execution.
Key Features of jUnit
jUnit has several key features that make it so popular. Some of them are as follows:
It is an Open-Source Network
jUnit adopts the open-source network licence which in turn ensures that developers can code faster on the framework besides producing better overall code quality.
The framework comes built in with an Assertions feature
With the assertions feature of jUnit, you can use such assertions to test expected results
It serves to enhance overall quality of code
The great popularity of the jUnit testing framework is due to its effectiveness in testing. With it, developers can code faster besides ensuring better quality of overall code.
The framework comes built in with an Annotations feature
jUnit offers several annotations which let developers identify test methods
The framework comes built in with Test Runners
With the pre-created test runners that come with the jUnit framework you can run tests without much of a hassle.
It lets developers automate the Test Running process
When you use jUnit for testing, the results need not be checked manually. On the jUnit platform tests are performed automatically and the results evaluated automatically along with feedback inputs.
The test results can be interpreted with greater ease
In jUnit testing, the results are presented in an interactive manner in the form of a bar showing test progress. It all helps in making the test results relatively easy to interpret.
Advantages of using jUnit
There are several advantages of using jUnit as your Java code testing platform which includes:
You can use the framework to test program code hierarchies as both singular as well as multiple units.
jUnit is based on the precept of first creating test cases and carrying them out before doing coding based on test data and defined outputs. This idea helps to not only in making the program code more stable but also increases overall productivity as the time taken for debugging comes down drastically.
One of the best things about jUnit is how it works better than even programmers at detecting software bugs. Unit testing can be of great benefit. Often when developers add new features or in some other way modify existing code, they make room for bugs too. The regression testing features of jUnit test new code changes over old code and avoid expensive regression.
Some of the other key features that make jUnit stand out include:
- It serves as a simple framework that lets developers create automated and self-verifying Java tests.
- jUnit provides support for developers to test code through assertions
- jUint facilitates the development of complete test suites
- Developers get real-time test reporting results
- Developers can choose from both graphical and command line test reporting mechanisms
- Many popular IDEs (integrated development platforms) supporting Java come with built-in support for jUnit like Eclipse
- Thanks to the efforts of the open-source community, developers can perform jUnit tests from within application server containers with the jUnitEE test framework.
- Organizations from four corners of the world use jUnit for unit testing on the Java development platform.
- Almost all major IDEs support jUnit making it a virtual standard for Java software testing.
- Experts and the developer community in general have adopted jUnit in large numbers making it an effective and possibly the best framework for efficient software testing.
Versions and Editions
Currently jUnit is in its fifth version and it is particularly suited for the Java 8 coding version. Experts consider jUnit 5 to be far more flexible and robust than its preceding version 4. The major difference between jUnit v5 and jUnit v4 lies in its annotations. Though they are similar but there are important differences which the following table will highlight:
| Feature | JUnit 4 | jUnit 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Declare a test method | @Test | @Test |
| Execute before all test methods in the current class | @BeforeClass | @BeforeAll |
| Execute after all test methods in the current class | @AfterClass | @AfterAll |
| Execute before each test method | @Before | @BeforeEach |
| Execute after each test method | @After | @AfterEach |
| Disable a test method/class | @Ignore | @Disabled |
| Test factory for dynamic tests | NA | @TestFactory |
| Nested tests | NA | @Nested |
| Tagging and filtering | @Category | @Tag |
| Register custom extensions | NA | @ExtendWith |
jUnit Testing Expertise
In-house QA Engineers are expertise in jUnit to perform tests using the framework for a wide range of development projects using the Java programming language. Leverage our jUnit expertise for a quality bug free software solution.