JUnit 2.1

02/28/98 Erich Gamma and Kent Beck

JUnit is a simple framework to write repeatable tests. JUnit can be used with JDK 1.1.* and JDK 1.2.

Summary of Changes
Contents
Installation
Getting Started
Documentation
Extending JUnit
License
Download

Summary of Changes

The focus of this release was to refactor parts of the framework and to make it more consistent. In addition, we have simplified the writing and running of tests.

Framework

We renamed the package prefix for all junit classes from "test" to "junit."
This version extracts test suites automatically. TestSuite now provides a constructor TestSuite(Class theClass). This constructor adds all the methods from the given class starting with "test" as test cases to the suite. This avoids you having to update the suite method manually when adding a new test. For example, the suite() method of the VectorTest can now be written as:

ic static Test suite() {

return new TestSuite(VectorTest.class);

}

Several new assert methods were added:

assertNotNull(Object object)
assertNotNull(String message, Object object)
assertNull(Object object)
assertNull(String message, Object object)
assertSame(Object actual, Object expected)
assertSame(String message, Object actual, Object expected)
fail()
fail(String message).

Exceptions during setUp() and tearDown() are now caught and reported.
A warning is now given when a TestCase class isn't public or has no test methods.
All the assert methods are now public.

TestRunner

Both the batch and the interactive TestRunner no longer require that the Test class provides a static suite() method. If there is no suite method all the public void methods starting with "test" and no arguments are run (see above).
There is a new variation of the graphical TestRunner (junit.ui.TestRunner) the LoadingTestRunner. The LoadingTestRunner uses a custom class loader to reload user classes for each test run. This avoids that the TestRunner tool needs to be restarted for each run. The old TestRunner attempted to address this by making assumptions about the garbage collection of classes which were not portable. In particular, the old scheme would not work at all with JDK1.2.

Notice

hot code updating

When the graphical TestRunner is run under Visual Age for Java there is an additional run button to rerun a failed test. This is typically used to set a breakpoint in the test method and to rerun it under the debugger.
The TestRunners support the command line option -c TestClassName. This allows you to run them as VisualAge for Java tools. Once you have JUnit installed as a VAJ tool you can select the Test class and run its tests from a VAJ menu (see how to run JUnit as a VisualAge for Java tool).
The batch TestRunner supports a runAndWait method to run a suite and wait until the user types RETURN.

Contents of the Release

`README.html`	this file
`junit.jar`	a jar file with the JUnit framework and tools
`junit`	the source code of the JUnit framework, tools and samples
`framework`	the JUnit test framework
`textui`	a command line interface to run tests
`ui`	a graphical user interface to run tests
`samples`	sample test cases
`tests`	test cases for JUnit itself
extensions	some extensions for JUnit
`javadoc`	javadoc generated documentation
`doc`	documentation and articles
vaj	Files for using JUnit with VisualAge for Java

Installation

Below are the installation steps for installing JUnit:

unzip the junit.zip file
add junit.jar to the CLASSPATH. For example: set classpath=%classpath%;INSTALL_DIR\junit2\junit.jar
test the installation by using either the batch or the graphical TestRunner tool to run the tests that come with this release. All the tests should pass OK.

for the batch TestRunner type: java junit.textui.TestRunner junit.samples.AllTests
for the graphical TestRunner type: java junit.ui.TestRunner junit.samples.AllTests

Refer to Installing JUnit in VisualAge for Java for VisualAge for notes about installing JUnit in VisualAge for Java.

Getting Started

To get started with unit testing and JUnit read the Java Report article: Test Infected - Programmers Love Writing Tests.
This article demonstrates the development process with JUnit in the context of multiple currency arithmetic. The corresponding source code is in junit\samples\money.

You find additional samples in the junit.samples package:

SimpleTest.java - some simple test cases
VectorTest.java - test cases for java.util.Vector

Documentation

JUnit Cookbook
    A cookbook for implementing tests with JUnit.
Test Infected - Programmers Love Writing Tests
    An article demonstrating the development process with JUnit.
Javadoc
    API documentation generated with javadoc.
Using JUnit with VisualAge for Java
    Hints about how to use JUnit in the VisualAge for Java environment.
Frequently asked questions
    Some frequently asked questions about using JUnit.

Extending JUnit

Examples of possible JUnit extensions can be found in the junit.extensions package:

TestDecorator - A decorator for Test. You can use it as the base class for implementing decorators to extend test cases.
ActiveTest - A Decorator which runs each test in a separate thread.
TestSetup - A Decorator to set up and tear down additional fixture state. Subclass TestSetup and insert it into your tests when you want to set up additional state once before the tests are run.

Download

Junit2.1 can be downloaded from here.

Acknowledgments

Many people gave us feedback on JUnit 1. Here is a likely incomplete list: Martin Fowler, Marnix Klustner, Marcio Marchini, Nick Edgar, Michael C. Feathers, Gilbert Semmer.
André Weinand rewrote the graphical TestRunner and Carolyn MacLeod showed us how to do the VisualAge for Java tool integration.