JUnit Test Categorisation With Maven

To group by test types, we annotate our test codes with JUnit's org.junit.experimental.categories.Category and customise Maven's test plugin to allow certain groups to run before others.

But just before we start, we need to provide group names to our test codes. As an example, we'll model these group types as Felicite's early and later life.

package org.lyeung.simpleheart;
public interface EarlyLife {}

package org.lyeung.simpleheart;
public interface LaterLife {}

Below is a sample test class:
public class TestFelicity {

    @Category(EarlyLife.class)
    @Test    public void isKnowsTheodore() {
        System.out.println("isKnowsTheodore");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @Category(EarlyLife.class)
    @Test    public void isKnowsPaul() {
        System.out.println("isKnowsPaul");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @Category(EarlyLife.class)
    @Test    public void isKnowsVirginie() {
        System.out.println("isKnowsVirginie");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @Category(LaterLife.class)
    @Test    public void isKnowsFatherColmiche() {
        System.out.println("isKnowsFatherColmiche");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @Category(LaterLife.class)
    @Test    public void isParrotLouLou() {
        System.out.println("isParrotLouLou");
        assertTrue(true);
    }
}

As you can see from above, we've categorised our test methods by annotating @Category with the desired group types.

To enable early life tests when Maven runs package goal, we need to update the pom file to customise Surefire plugin:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.18.1</version>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.surefire</groupId>
            <artifactId>surefire-junit47</artifactId>
            <version>2.18.1</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <configuration>
        <groups>org.lyeung.simpleheart.EarlyLife</groups>
    </configuration>

</plugin>

To enable later life tests when Maven runs integration test or after, we need another update to Failsafe plugin:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.18.1</version>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.surefire</groupId>
            <artifactId>surefire-junit47</artifactId>
            <version>2.18.1</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <configuration>
        <groups>org.lyeung.simpleheart.LaterLife</groups>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>failsafe-integration-tests</id>
            <phase>integration-test</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>integration-test</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <includes>
                    <include>**/*.class</include>
                </includes>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

What this means is that when Maven runs package goal, only tests with early life are invoked. When Maven runs integration test goal or after, both early life and later life tests are invoked¹.

"From the threshold of the room she saw Virginia, stretched on her back, her hands joined, her mouth open, and her head thrown back under a black cross bending towards her, between motionless curtains, less white than her face."

Below is a snippet log for package goal:
mvn clean package

-------------------------------------------------------
T E S T S
-------------------------------------------------------
Running org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity
isKnowsVirginie
isKnowsPaul
isKnowsTheodore
Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 0.001 sec - in org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity

Results :

Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0

Below is a snippet log for package verify goal:

mvn clean verify
-------------------------------------------------------
T E S T S
-------------------------------------------------------
Running org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity
isKnowsVirginie
isKnowsPaul
isKnowsTheodore
Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 0.002 sec - in org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity

Results :

Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0

-------------------------------------------------------
T E S T S
-------------------------------------------------------
Running org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity
isKnowsFatherColmiche
isParrotLouLou
Tests run: 2, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 0.002 sec - in org.lyeung.simpleheart.TestFelicity

Results :

Tests run: 2, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0

¹http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-the-lifecycle.html