Software Reuse Quick Tip #32

Tip #32 – Fail the build when there is a test failure

Systematic reuse needs automated tests – lots of them. Ensure that your continuous builds don’t keep running when they encounter a failing test – this makes mistakes visible faster and easier to fix. If you are using Maven, you can use the surefire plugin configuration as shown below:

<project>
  [...]
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
        <configuration>
          <testFailureIgnore>false</testFailureIgnore>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  [...]
</project>