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Test Fixtures Best Practice for Maven 4

Discussion: https://github.com/support-and-care/maven-support-and-care/discussions/183

Original Item: "A best practice way for testFixtures in Maven 4. Solution for JPMS and classic classpath should be provided (Hendrik)"

Problem Statement

With projects getting more complex and modular, it is important to have a good way to test the integration of those modules. Especially with Java modules and access restrictions, tests of those modules can become more complex.

Current State / Starting Point

While Gradle has the concept of test fixtures, Maven does not have a similar concept. A (bad) workaround for such situations is a test-jar or a maven submodule that contains shareable test logic. But the test fixtures concept is way more elegant and especially for JPMS based projects it has a lot of benefits.

Expected Outcomes / Benefits

We need something similar to Gradle test fixtures in Maven.

Discussion Summary

The community questioned whether this is similar to the existing jar:test-jar functionality, suggesting a preference for improving existing Maven features rather than adding new ones. The proposal should clarify what test fixtures provide beyond test-jar, particularly for JPMS-based projects.

Final Discussion (2026-02-24)

  • Discussion:
  • Research task if/how to implement exactly test fixtures (or find something better)
  • For the time being use "test fixtures" as working name
  • Discuss possible implementation approaches with community
  • Implement the found solution (if all else fails, just test fixtures)
  • Decision: Request Funding