0

My company wants to move off of JUnit 3 and start using only JUnit 4. The other intern and I have been given the task of converting the older JUnit 3 tests to use JUnit 4 conventions. However, I'm having a problem converting the testfile I'm working on right now.

From what I can tell, there is a generateTest method that returns a SSlTest (SSlTest is a subclass of TestCase). The returned SslTest overrides runTest. runTest contains a try-catch block that starts two threads, clientThread and serverThread (these are both subclasses of Thread that are defined within the testfile). It looks like the actual testing is being done inside the threads, since the rest of runTest is used for catching exceptions from the two threads.

generateTest is called by another method, generateSuite (returns a TestSuite). generateSuite contains an outer for-loop that adds suites to a main suite. The inner for-loop uses generateTest to add tests to each suite within the main suite. The main suite is what is returned by the method.

Finally, inside the suite() method that is called in the main method of the test file, a while-loop is setup to generate suites using generateSuite and add them to a bigger suite.

The only guides I've found on migrating to JUnit 4 are for much simpler test cases. I'm very lost right now and no one else at my company knows enough JUnit 4 to help me, so any tips would be much appreciated!

gchan
  • 27
  • 2
  • 9
  • 1
    you're good at narrating the code :) .. can you post the code itself? – Tala Jul 30 '13 at 14:56
  • You say "generateTest ... returns a SSITest" -- do you mean it returns an instance of a class? Or does it write the code for a class? The main difference I know of between JUnits 3 and 4 is that 3 used a convention of "test..." as the name of its testing methods, and instead 4 has the "@Test" annotation. You don't mention a "test..." method for your 3 methods; do they not have them? Do they not follow the convention, or am I missing something? – arcy Jul 30 '13 at 15:05
  • 1. I'm not sure if I can post the code itself since it's company code and I don't want to get in trouble. 2. Yes, it returns an instance of a class. There is one "test.." method that is called in the clientThread. – gchan Jul 30 '13 at 15:14
  • 1
    Have you tried running these tests with the JUnit4 runner? JUnit4 is fairly backward compatible. – Olaf Jul 30 '13 at 17:36
  • Yea, it works fine with the JUnit 4 runner but my company wants to be able to stop using the JUnit 3 jars. The testfile has the following imports: junit.framework.Test; junit.framework.TestCase; junit.framework.TestSuite; junit.textui.TestRunner, but I don't think I can use any of them once we remove the JUnit 3 jars. – gchan Jul 30 '13 at 19:05
  • @gchan - those packages are in the junit 4 jars. – Jeanne Boyarsky Aug 03 '13 at 20:48

1 Answers1

2

The very first thing I would do is try to convince whomever gave me the task that it is unnecessary. I know that is hard as an intern, but it is worth making sure that person understands this isn't necessary.

Facts for convincing:

  • The JUnit 4 jar contains both the junit.framework and org.junit package structures so it is backward compatible.
  • JUnit has broad adoption. They owners of the JUnit project are well aware of this and aren't going to ask people to rewrite all the tests. In other words, they aren't going to just drop compatibility.
  • Actually try it. Seriously. Try running your existing test code as is with the JUnit 4 jar. You'll see if you get any compiler errors. If you do, those are the areas to focus. If you don't, you have great evidence to show to the person who gave you the task.

This doesn't mean you won't have to change anything. It means you won't have to change the majority of your code. If you have custom runners, you'll want to use the JUnit 4 style. You also might need classpath suite to collect the tests.

There is also value in converting a few of the tests to the JUnit 4 so developers on the team have some examples to use. But converting them all isn't a good use of time.

On not being able to post code

Getting help on the internet is extremely difficult without code. I can understand your employer not wanting you to post code. (But then they probably don't want you posting class and method names either - which you did.) Luckily, there is an alternative. Create a SSCCE instead. (Read the link - it will help you a lot as you progress in your jobs.) In addition for the smaller example being easier to read, it will allow you to change the class/method/etc names and then your employer won't have their code online.

Jeanne Boyarsky
  • 12,156
  • 2
  • 49
  • 59