java - Where should the integration tests be stored when using the maven-failsafe-plugin?

Question

Do I have to place my integration tests under src/test with the rest of my unit tests and just distinguish them by a pattern such as *Integr*Test, *ITTest, or can they be in src/it (as is the case when developing Maven plugins and using the maven-invoker-plugin)?

I'm asking this because, to me it looks not clean enough if both unit and integration tests are in the same place, (even if they were to be controlled via a Maven profile).

Answer 1

You are right that src/it is intended to be used for integrations test of plugins. This is mentioned in the Standard Directory Layout.

The maven-failsafe-plugin, by default, will look for your integration tests inside ${project.build.testSourceDirectory}, which is the same as the maven-surefire-plugin for unit tests. By default, this corresponds to src/test/java. The integration tests are made distinct by following a naming convention:

<includes>
  <include>**/IT*.java</include>
  <include>**/*IT.java</include>
  <include>**/*ITCase.java</include>
</includes>

which is different than the naming convention for unit-tests:

<includes>
  <include>**/Test*.java</include>
  <include>**/*Test.java</include>
  <include>**/*TestCase.java</include>
</includes>

So while they would reside in the same source folder (src/test/java), the difference in names clearly distinguishes them. Also, this is the default set-up so no extra configuration would be needed.

That said, you can have other options:

• Place the integration tests inside a different source folder. This will require some configuration to make it work: you will need to use the build-helper-maven-plugin:add-test-source goal to add the custom folder as a test source folder.
• Use a different module (if you have a multi-module Maven project) that would only contain the integration tests.