Run JUnit automatically when building Eclipse project

Question

I want to run my unit tests automatically when I save my Eclipse project. The project is built automatically whenever I save a file, so I think this should be possible in some way.

How do I do it? Is the only option really to get an ant script and change the project build to use the ant script with targets build and compile?

Update I will try 2 different approaches now:

1. Running an additional builder for my project that executes the ant target test (I have an ant script anyway)
2. ct-eclipse, recommended by Thorbjørn

Answer 1

Right click on your project > Properties > Builders > New, and there add your ant ant builder.

But, in my opinion, it is unwise to run the unit tests on each save.

Answer 2

See if Eclipse has a plugin for Infinitest.

I'd also consider TestNG as an alternative to JUnit. It has a lot of features that might be helpful in partitioning your unit test classes into shorter and longer running groups.

Answer 3

For sure it it unwise to run all tests, because we can have for example 20.000 tests whereas our change could affect only, let's say 50 of them, among which are tests for the class we have changed and tests for classes that collaborate with our class.

There is an unseful plugin called infinitetest http://improvingworks.com/products/infinitest/ which runs only some tests ( related to class we've changed ) just after we save changes. It also integrate quite nicely with editor ( using annotations ) and problem view - displaying not-passing tests like errors.

Answer 4

I believe you are looking for http://ct-eclipse.tigris.org/

I've experimented with the concept earlier, and my personal conclusion was that in order for this to be useful you need a lot of tests which take time. Personally I save very frequently so this would happen frequently, and I didn't find it to be an advantage. It might be different for you.

Instead we bit the bullet and set up a "build server" which watches our CVS repository and builds projects as they change. If the compilation fails or the tests fail we are notified quickly so we can remedy it.

It is as always a matter of taste what works for you. This is what I've found.