JUnit 5 Testing Patterns

Patterns for writing effective unit, integration, and slice tests in Java.

When to Use

• User is writing JUnit 5 tests
• User needs to mock dependencies with Mockito
• User asks about Spring Boot test slices (@WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest)
• User wants integration tests with real databases (Testcontainers)
• User needs parameterized tests for multiple inputs

Core Patterns

JUnit 5 Annotations and Lifecycle

import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;

class UserServiceTest {
    private UserService userService;
    private UserRepository userRepository;

    @BeforeEach
    void setUp() {
        userRepository = new InMemoryUserRepository();
        userService = new UserService(userRepository);
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("creates a user with valid input")
    void createsUserWithValidInput() {
        User result = userService.createUser(new CreateUserRequest("Alice", "alice@example.com"));
        assertAll(
            () -> assertNotNull(result.getId()),
            () -> assertEquals("Alice", result.getName()),
            () -> assertEquals("alice@example.com", result.getEmail())
        );
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("throws when email is already taken")
    void throwsWhenEmailTaken() {
        userRepository.save(new User("Bob", "bob@example.com"));
        assertThrows(ConflictException.class,
            () -> userService.createUser(new CreateUserRequest("Bob2", "bob@example.com")));
    }

    @Nested
    @DisplayName("when user exists")
    class WhenUserExists {
        private User existingUser;

        @BeforeEach
        void setUp() {
            existingUser = userRepository.save(new User("Alice", "alice@example.com"));
        }

        @Test
        void findsById() {
            Optional<User> found = userService.findById(existingUser.getId());
            assertTrue(found.isPresent());
            assertEquals("Alice", found.get().getName());
        }
    }
}

Mockito -- Mocking Dependencies

Isolate the unit under test by mocking its collaborators.

import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
import org.mockito.*;
import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;

@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
class OrderServiceTest {
    @Mock private OrderRepository orderRepository;
    @Mock private PaymentGateway paymentGateway;
    @InjectMocks private OrderService orderService;

    @Test
    @DisplayName("places order and charges payment")
    void placesOrderAndChargesPayment() {
        var order = new Order("product-1", 2, 29_99L);
        when(orderRepository.save(any(Order.class))).thenReturn(order);
        when(paymentGateway.charge(anyLong())).thenReturn(new PaymentResult(true, "txn-123"));

        assertNotNull(orderService.placeOrder(order));
        verify(paymentGateway).charge(29_99L);
        verify(orderRepository).save(order);
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("rolls back order when payment fails")
    void rollsBackWhenPaymentFails() {
        when(paymentGateway.charge(anyLong())).thenReturn(new PaymentResult(false, null));
        assertThrows(PaymentFailedException.class,
            () -> orderService.placeOrder(new Order("product-1", 1, 50_00L)));
        verify(orderRepository, never()).save(any());
    }
}

@WebMvcTest -- Controller Slice Tests

Test controllers in isolation without starting the full application context. Only the web layer is loaded.

@WebMvcTest(UserController.class)
class UserControllerTest {
    @Autowired private MockMvc mockMvc;
    @MockBean private UserService userService;

    @Test
    @DisplayName("GET /api/v1/users/{id} returns user")
    void getUser() throws Exception {
        when(userService.findById("1"))
            .thenReturn(Optional.of(new UserResponse("1", "Alice", "alice@example.com")));

        mockMvc.perform(get("/api/v1/users/1"))
            .andExpect(status().isOk())
            .andExpect(jsonPath("$.data.name").value("Alice"));
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("POST /api/v1/users validates request body")
    void validateCreateUser() throws Exception {
        mockMvc.perform(post("/api/v1/users")
                .contentType("application/json")
                .content("{\"name\":\"\",\"email\":\"not-an-email\"}"))
            .andExpect(status().isBadRequest());
    }
}

Testcontainers -- Integration Tests with Real Databases

Spin up real database containers for integration tests. Tests are reliable and match production behavior.

@SpringBootTest
@Testcontainers
class UserRepositoryIntegrationTest {
    @Container
    static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:16-alpine")
        .withDatabaseName("testdb").withUsername("test").withPassword("test");

    @DynamicPropertySource
    static void configureProperties(DynamicPropertyRegistry registry) {
        registry.add("spring.datasource.url", postgres::getJdbcUrl);
        registry.add("spring.datasource.username", postgres::getUsername);
        registry.add("spring.datasource.password", postgres::getPassword);
    }

    @Autowired private UserRepository userRepository;

    @Test
    @DisplayName("persists and retrieves a user")
    void persistsAndRetrieves() {
        User saved = userRepository.save(new User("Alice", "alice@example.com"));
        Optional<User> found = userRepository.findById(saved.getId());
        assertTrue(found.isPresent());
        assertEquals("Alice", found.get().getName());
    }
}

Parameterized Tests

Run the same test logic with different inputs. Reduces duplication.

class EmailValidatorTest {
    private final EmailValidator validator = new EmailValidator();

    @ParameterizedTest
    @CsvSource({"alice@example.com, true", "bob@test.org, true", "invalid, false", "@no-local.com, false"})
    void validatesEmail(String email, boolean expected) {
        assertEquals(expected, validator.isValid(email));
    }

    @ParameterizedTest
    @NullAndEmptySource
    @ValueSource(strings = {"   ", "\t"})
    void rejectsBlankEmails(String email) {
        assertFalse(validator.isValid(email));
    }

    @ParameterizedTest
    @MethodSource("validEmailProvider")
    void acceptsValidEmails(String email) { assertTrue(validator.isValid(email)); }

    static Stream<String> validEmailProvider() {
        return Stream.of("a@b.com", "user+tag@domain.co", "first.last@sub.domain.org");
    }
}

Anti-Patterns

• Testing implementation details -- Verifying private method calls or internal state. Test behavior (inputs and outputs), not how the code achieves the result.
• Overusing @SpringBootTest -- Loads the entire application context. Slow. Use slice annotations (@WebMvcTest, @DataJpaTest) to load only what you need.
• Not using @ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class) -- Forgetting this means @Mock and @InjectMocks annotations are silently ignored, leading to NullPointerException.
• Sharing mutable state between tests -- Tests must be independent. Use @BeforeEach to reset state. Never rely on test execution order.
• Mocking everything including the class under test -- Only mock collaborators. The class under test should use its real implementation.

Quick Reference

@BeforeEach

@AfterEach

@BeforeAll

@AfterAll

@Nested

assertEquals

assertTrue

assertThrows

assertAll

assertTimeout

when().thenReturn()

verify()

any()

@Mock

@InjectMocks

@WebMvcTest

@DataJpaTest

@SpringBootTest

@CsvSource

@ValueSource

@MethodSource

@NullAndEmptySource