How do I run JUnit tests from inside my java application?

Question

Is it possible to run JUnit tests from inside my java application?

Are there test frameworks I can use (such as JUnit.jar?), or am I force to find the test files, invoke the methods and track the exceptions myself?

The reason why I am asking is my application requires a lot of work to start launch (lots of dependencies and configurations, etc) and using an external testing tool (like JUnit Ant task) would require a lot of work to set up.

It is easier to start the application and then inside the application run my tests.

Is there an easy test framework that runs tests and output results from inside a java application or am I forced to write my own framework?

Answer 1

As documented in the JUnit FAQ:

public static void main(String args[]) {
  org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.main("junitfaq.SimpleTest");
}

Answer 2

According to the JUnit API, JUnitCore has several methods to execute tests inside Java.

Thanks to Tomislav Nakic-Alfirevic for pointing it out.

http://junit.sourceforge.net/javadoc/org/junit/runner/JUnitCore.html

Answer 3

The reason why I am asking is my application requires a lot of work to start launch (lots of dependencies and configurations, etc) and using an external testing tool (like JUnit Ant task) would require a lot of work to set up.

You need to remove these dependencies from the code you are testing. The dependencies and configurations are precisely what you are trying to avoid when writing a test framework. For each test, you should be targeting the smallest testable part of an application.

For example, if you require a database connection to execute some process in a class you are trying to test - decouple the database handling object from your class, pass it in via a constructor or setter method, and in your test use a tool like JMock (or write a stub class) to build a fake database handling object. This way you are making sure the tests are not dependent on a particular database configuration, and you are only testing the small portion of code you are interested in, not the entire database handling layer as well.

It might seem like a lot of work at first, but this kind of refactoring is exactly what your test framework should be fleshing out. You might find it useful to get a book on software testing as a reference for decoupling your dependencies. It will pay off a lot more than trying to bootstrap JUnit from inside your running application.

Answer 4

Yes, you can. I was doing it couple of times to run diagnostic/smoke tests in production systems. This is a snippet of key part of the code invoking JUnit:

JUnitCore junit = new JUnitCore();
Result result = junit.run(testClasses);

DON'T use JUnit.main inside your application, it invokes System.exit after tests are finished and thus it may stop JVM process.

You may want to capture JUnit's "regular" console output (the dots and simple report). This can be easily done by registering TextListener (this class provides this simple report).

Please also be aware of several complications using this kind of method:

1. Testing of any "test framework", including so small one, although is quite simple may be confusing. For example if you want to test if your "test framework" return failure result when one of the tests fails you could (should?) create sample JUnit test that always fails and execute that test with the "test framework". In this case failing test case is actually test data and shouldn't be executed as "normal" JUnit. For an example of such tests you can refer to JUnit's internal test cases.

2. If you want to prepare / display your custom report you should rather register your own RunListener, because Result returned by JUnit doesn't contain (directly) information about passed tests and test method (it is only "hardcoded" as a part of test Description).