TABLE OF CONTENTS As mere users of a test framework, we should not bother about its internal structure, unless we are programmers and, as such, interested in the inner parts of each piece of software we can get a hold of. In addition, unit testing is such an individual activity that we may sometimes not get around expansions and adaptations of the framework. JUnit does not cover every functionality anyone may need during testing; it is an open core that can be expanded and completed in different places. And if we find that JUnit limits our own test needs too much, then it may still serve us as an example for the benefits and drawbacks of certain design decisions in the development of our own test support tools.
So far, we have introduced three classes: TestRunner (in three different variants), TestCase, and TestSuite. But JUnit has much more in store. The inner structure of JUnit mainly the package junit.framework is a small tutorial in itself for the use of a large number of design patterns [Gamma95]. Kent Beck and Erich Gamma [Beck99] describe the patterns used and their motivation. [1] The article and the accompanying study of the JUnit sources is recommended to everyone and is an absolute must for all who want to understand and expand JUnit, even though JUnit has been further developed in the interim.
Figure 5.1 shows a small section from the inner life of JUnit Version 3.8. Except for TestDecorator, this...
