Java – How to assert equality on two classes without an equals method

javajunitunit testing

Say I have a class with no equals() method, to which do not have the source. I want to assert equality on two instances of that class.

I can do multiple asserts:

assertEquals(obj1.getFieldA(), obj2.getFieldA());
assertEquals(obj1.getFieldB(), obj2.getFieldB());
assertEquals(obj1.getFieldC(), obj2.getFieldC());
...

I don't like this solution because I don't get the full equality picture if an early assert fails.

I can manually compare on my own and track the result:

String errorStr = "";
if(!obj1.getFieldA().equals(obj2.getFieldA())) {
    errorStr += "expected: " + obj1.getFieldA() + ", actual: " + obj2.getFieldA() + "\n";
}
if(!obj1.getFieldB().equals(obj2.getFieldB())) {
    errorStr += "expected: " + obj1.getFieldB() + ", actual: " + obj2.getFieldB() + "\n";
}
...
assertEquals("", errorStr);

This gives me the full equality picture, but is clunky (and I haven't even accounted for possible null problems). A third option is to use Comparator, but compareTo() will not tell me which fields failed equality.

Is there a better practice to get what I want from the object, without subclassing and overridding equals (ugh)?

Best Answer

Mockito offers a reflection-matcher:

For latest version of Mockito use:

Assert.assertTrue(new ReflectionEquals(expected, excludeFields).matches(actual));

For older versions use:

Assert.assertThat(actual, new ReflectionEquals(expected, excludeFields));

Related Solutions

Java – How to test a class that has private methods, fields or inner classes

Update:

Some 10 years later perhaps the best way to test a private method, or any inaccessible member, is via @Jailbreak from the Manifold framework.
@Jailbreak Foo foo = new Foo();
// Direct, *type-safe* access to *all* foo's members
foo.privateMethod(x, y, z);
foo.privateField = value;
This way your code remains type-safe and readable. No design compromises, no overexposing methods and fields for the sake of tests.

If you have somewhat of a legacy Java application, and you're not allowed to change the visibility of your methods, the best way to test private methods is to use reflection.

Internally we're using helpers to get/set private and private static variables as well as invoke private and private static methods. The following patterns will let you do pretty much anything related to the private methods and fields. Of course, you can't change private static final variables through reflection.

Method method = TargetClass.getDeclaredMethod(methodName, argClasses);
method.setAccessible(true);
return method.invoke(targetObject, argObjects);

And for fields:

Field field = TargetClass.getDeclaredField(fieldName);
field.setAccessible(true);
field.set(object, value);

Notes:
1. TargetClass.getDeclaredMethod(methodName, argClasses) lets you look into private methods. The same thing applies for getDeclaredField.
2. The setAccessible(true) is required to play around with privates.

Java – How to concatenate two arrays in Java

I found a one-line solution from the good old Apache Commons Lang library.
ArrayUtils.addAll(T[], T...)

Code:

String[] both = ArrayUtils.addAll(first, second);

Best Answer

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