Maven - How to compile tests without running them ?

Question

Is there a way in Maven to compile the tests without running them ? I want to use the IDE to run specific tests and not all of them.

You should probably either edit the question or change the accepted answer. — Chiranjib, Jun 01 '17 at 05:44

score 418 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 25 '11 at 16:21

418

How about the test-compile lifecycle phase? It doesn't require any test skipping, because it occurs before the test phase. I.e.,

$ mvn test-compile

And done.

Introduction to the Build Lifecycle explains further.

answered Jan 25 '11 at 16:21

RonU

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Just curious, what is the advantage of `test-compile` over `-DskipTests`? - according with the documentation `-DskipTests` compiles the test classes but does **not** execute them (or the test classes are skipped for execution) - so according with `It doesn't require any test skipping` - should I assume that is expensive? – Manuel Jordan Aug 28 '21 at 03:30
`-DskipTests` is not a Maven lifecycle goal; it's just an option to set. You could run lots of goals with `-DskipTests`. The OP asked how to compile them without running them, so this satisfies that. I don't see any reason to think skipping tests would be expensive, but it does seem useless to run the `test` goal and use `-DskipTests`. – RonU Aug 31 '21 at 05:56
When that is done, is there a way to continue from this point? Without compiling again? Just running the tests next? – Chris Pillen Oct 16 '21 at 08:15
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If you later execute e.g., `mvn test`, Maven will execute all of its lifecycle phases again, but as long as you haven't run `clean`, then your build artifacts will still be present and should be up-to-date, making the process much faster. Try it for yourself by running `mvn test-compile; mvn test` vs `mvn test-compile; mvn clean test` – RonU Oct 20 '21 at 04:36

score 51 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 12 '23 at 10:19

51

To just compile the tests and code, without running them, just do:

mvn test-compile compile

edited Feb 12 '23 at 10:19

blackgreen

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answered Dec 30 '15 at 10:41

orange77

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I think test-compile includes compile – Whimusical Feb 01 '19 at 18:34

Martins · Answer 3 · 2013-05-20T08:28:53.897

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When executing a goal that will include the testing phase (such as package), you can do two things:

Use the command mvn -DskipTests=true package. This will compile all tests but not run them.
Or mvn -Dmaven.test.skip=true package. This will not compile or run the test branch.

edited May 20 '13 at 08:28

answered May 19 '13 at 09:25

Martins

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score 26 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 26 '15 at 11:01

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you can try to use parameter -DskipTests

References:

Maven Surefire Plugin # skipTests

edited Feb 26 '15 at 11:01

Stephan

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answered Jan 22 '11 at 15:26

lweller

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In netbeans, that is what i was doing. I see the following mvn -Dmaven.test.skip=true -Dnetbeans.execution=true clean install then i see the following – user373201 Jan 22 '11 at 15:57
[compiler:testCompile] Not compiling test sources [surefire:test] Tests are skipped. Atleast using netbeans looks like if tests are skipped it does not compile test sources – user373201 Jan 22 '11 at 15:58
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never mind, even though the logs say that, it still seems to compile test files. – user373201 Jan 22 '11 at 16:31
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this leads to skipping tests completely: execution as well as compilation, see the correct answer below: test-compile. I use it with mvn clean compile test-compile in Eclipse – Yashima Jun 26 '12 at 12:32
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@Yashima you're right this aswer is not so clever... please accept answer bellow, so a can delete this one – lweller Jul 02 '12 at 15:12
@Yashima You are talking about the `skip` option, aren't you? See this [answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/28740251/363573). – Stephan Feb 26 '15 at 11:09
@lweller As far as I know this is the best solution for the question! Until now I used 'maven.test.skip=true' which produces missing test dependencies in cases where tests are not necessary. – TekTimmy Jun 26 '15 at 08:30
for some reason, tests still run if -DskipTests is set. – adapt-dev Feb 12 '16 at 21:32
you were supposed to delete the answer ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) – Line Feb 18 '19 at 12:30
According with the documentation `-DskipTests` compiles the test classes but does not execute them (or the test classes are skipped for execution) - to avoid compilation and execution should be used: `-Dmaven.test.skip=true` – Manuel Jordan Aug 28 '21 at 03:40

Stephan · Answer 5 · 2019-03-01T09:26:37.020

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Alternatively, you can use maven.test.skip.exec option.

mvn -Dmaven.test.skip.exec=true

Maven will compile the tests without running them. I use this option in all my projects regularly.

edited Mar 01 '19 at 09:26

answered Feb 26 '15 at 10:42

Stephan

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I was looking into having two pipeline steps: 1. build 2. test Using this option in step 1 then `mvn surefire:test` in step 2 seems to minimize duplication of things being run. – tishma Dec 01 '20 at 13:12

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 29 '14 at 19:48

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In case you really want to only compile the tests (skip all other phases like compile), this will do

mvn org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.1:testCompile

See the plugin bindings of the default lifecycle.

answered Nov 29 '14 at 19:48

schnatterer

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 25 '11 at 15:18

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If you settings.xml file you can also use

<maven.test.skip>true</maven.test.skip>

answered Jan 25 '11 at 15:18

menapole

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You should never do that. If you need it, set it on the command line, but never permanently. – Sean Patrick Floyd Jan 25 '11 at 16:24
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Never said you should or shouldn't do it. Just providing knowledge of the option. – menapole Jan 25 '11 at 19:08
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This causes maven not to compile the tests, either. – Mike Miller Jun 01 '11 at 19:14
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@Sean Patrick Floyd: why not? this is NOT permanent, that would be to set it in the pom.xml. – Balázs Németh May 31 '12 at 08:07

Maven - How to compile tests without running them ?

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