[[Pre-requisites_-_test_quality_standards]]
= Before you add a test

Every added test, whether ported or new should follow the same
guidelines:

== Verify the test belongs in WildFly
AS6 has a lot of tests for things that are discontinued. For example
the +
legacy JBoss Transaction Manager which was replaced by Arjuna. Also we +
had tests for SPIs that no longer exist. None of these things should
be +
migrated.

== Only add CORRECT and UNDERSTANDABLE tests
If you don't understand what a test is doing (perhaps too complex), or +
it's going about things in a strange way that might not be correct,
THEN +
DO NOT PORT IT. Instead we should have a simpler, understandable, and +
correct test. Write a new one, ping the author, or skip it altogether.

== Do not add duplicate tests
Always check that the test you are adding doesn't have coverage +
elsewhere (try using "git grep"). As mentioned above we have some +
overlap between 6 and 7. The 7 test version will likely be better.

== Don't name tests after JIRAs
A JIRA number is useless without an internet connection, and they are +
hard to read. If I get a test failure thats XDGR-843534578 I have to
dig +
to figure out the context. It's perfectly fine though to link to a
JIRA +
number in the comments of the test. Also the commit log is always
available.

== Tests should contain javadoc that explains what is being tested
This is especially critical if the test is non-trivial

== Prefer expanding an EXISTING test over a new test class
If you are looking at migrating or creating a test with similar +
functionality to an exiting test, it is better to +
expand upon the existing one by adding more test methods, rather than +
creating a whole new test. In general each +
new test class adds at least 300ms to execution time, so as long as it +
makes sense it is better to add it to an +
existing test case.

== Organize tests by subsystem
Integration tests should be packaged in subpackages under the relevant +
subsystem (e.g org.jboss.as.test.integration.ejb.async). When a test +
impacts multiple subsystems this is a bit of a judgement call, but in +
general the tests should go into the package of +
the spec that defines the functionality (e.g. Jakarta Contexts and Dependency Injection based constructor +
injection into an Jakarta Enterprise Beans, even though this involves Jakarta Contexts and Dependency Injection and Jakarta Enterprise Beans, +
the Jakarta Contexts and Dependency Injection spec defines this behaviour)

== Explain non-obvious spec behavior in comments
The EE spec is full of odd requirements. If the test is covering +
behavior that is not obvious then please add something like "Verifies
EE +
X.T.Z - The widget can't have a foobar if it is declared like blah"

== Put integration test resources in the source directory of the test
At the moment there is not real organization of these files. It makes +
sense for most apps to have this separation, however the testsuite is +
different. e.g. most apps will have a single deployment descriptor of
a +
given type, for the testsuite will have hundreds, and maintaining
mirroring +
package structures is error prone. +
This also makes the tests easier to understand, as all the artifacts
in +
the deployment are in one place, and that place tends to be small
(only +
a handful of files).

== Do not hard-code values likely to need configuration (URLs, ports, ...)
URLs hardcoded to certain address (localhost) or port (like the default
8080 for web) prevent running the test against different address or with
IPv6 adress. +
Always use the configurable values provided by Arquillian or as a system
property. +
If you come across a value which is not configurable but you think it
should be, file an WildFly {wildflyVersion} jira issue with component "Test suite". +
See
https://github.com/arquillian/arquillian/blob/master/examples/junit/src/test/java/com/acme/web/LocalRunServletTestCase.java[@ArquillianResourrce
usage example].

== Follow best committing practices
* Only do changes related to the topic of the jira/pull request.
* Do not clutter your pull request with e.g. reformatting, fixing typos
spotted along the way - do another pull request for such.
* Prefer smaller changes in more pull request over one big pull request
which are difficult to merge.
* Keep the code consistent across commits - e.g. when renaming
something, be sure to update all references to it.
* Describe your commits properly as they will appear in master's linear
history.
* If you're working on a jira issue, include it's ID in the commit
message(s).

== Do not use blind timeouts
Do not use Thread.sleep() without checking for the actual condition you
need to be fulfilled. +
You may use active waiting with a timeout, but prefer using timeouts of
the API/SPI you test where available.

Make the timeouts configurable: For a group of similar test, use a
configurable timeout value with a default if not set.

== Provide messages in assert*() and fail() calls
Definitely, it's better to see "File x/y/z.xml not found" instead of:

[source,java,options="nowrap"]
----
junit.framework.AssertionFailedError
     at junit.framework.Assert.fail(Assert.java:48) [arquillian-service:]
     at junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue(Assert.java:20) [arquillian-service:]
     at junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue(Assert.java:27) [arquillian-service:]
     at org.jboss.as.test.smoke.embedded.parse.ParseAndMarshalModelsTestCase.getOriginalStandaloneXml(ParseAndMarshalModelsTestCase.java:554) [bogus.jar:]
----

== Provide configuration properties hints in exceptions
If your test uses some configuration property and it fails possibly due
to misconfiguration, note the property and it's value in the exception:

[source,java,options="nowrap"]
----
File jdbcJar = new File( System.getProperty("jbossas.ts.dir", "."),
       "integration/src/test/resources/mysql-connector-java-5.1.15.jar");
    if( !jdbcJar.exists() )
        throw new IllegalStateException("Can't find " + jdbcJar + " using $\{jbossas.ts.dir} == " + System.getProperty("jbossas.ts.dir") );
----

== Clean up
* Close sockets, connections, file descriptors;
* Don't put much data to static fields, or clean them in a finaly {...} block.
* Don't alter AS config (unless you are absolutely sure that it will
reload in a final \{...} block or an @After* method)

== Keep the tests configurable
Keep these things in properties, set them at the beginning of the test:
* Timeouts
* Paths
* URLs
* Numbers (of whatever)

They either will be or already are provided in form of system
properties, or a simple testsuite until API (soon to come).
