Execution order of lifecycle methods in JUnit - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test demonstrates the order in which JUnit lifecycle methods run. It verifies that methods annotated with @BeforeAll run once before all tests, @BeforeEach runs before each test, @Test methods run as tests, @AfterEach runs after each test, and @AfterAll runs once after all tests.

Test Code - JUnit 5

JUnit

import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;

public class LifecycleOrderTest {

    static StringBuilder log = new StringBuilder();

    @BeforeAll
    static void beforeAll() {
        log.append("beforeAll-");
    }

    @BeforeEach
    void beforeEach() {
        log.append("beforeEach-");
    }

    @Test
    void testOne() {
        log.append("testOne-");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @Test
    void testTwo() {
        log.append("testTwo-");
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @AfterEach
    void afterEach() {
        log.append("afterEach-");
    }

    @AfterAll
    static void afterAll() {
        log.append("afterAll");
        // Verify the full expected order
        String expected = "beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-afterEach-beforeEach-testTwo-afterEach-afterAll";
        assertTrue(log.toString().equals(expected));
    }
}

Execution Trace - 8 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	JUnit framework calls @BeforeAll static method	No tests run yet, log is empty	-	PASS
2	JUnit runs first test: calls @BeforeEach method	log contains 'beforeAll-'	-	PASS
3	JUnit runs first test method testOne()	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-'	assertTrue(true) in testOne	PASS
4	JUnit calls @AfterEach method after testOne	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-'	-	PASS
5	JUnit runs second test: calls @BeforeEach method	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-afterEach-'	-	PASS
6	JUnit runs second test method testTwo()	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-afterEach-beforeEach-'	assertTrue(true) in testTwo	PASS
7	JUnit calls @AfterEach method after testTwo	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-afterEach-beforeEach-testTwo-'	-	PASS
8	JUnit calls @AfterAll static method after all tests	log contains 'beforeAll-beforeEach-testOne-afterEach-beforeEach-testTwo-afterEach-'	assertTrue(log.toString().equals(expected))	PASS

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: The lifecycle methods do not run in the expected order or a test assertion fails

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

Which lifecycle method runs only once before all tests?

A @AfterEach

B @BeforeAll

C @BeforeEach

D @AfterAll

Key Result

Use lifecycle methods to set up and clean up tests in a clear order. Verifying their execution order helps ensure tests run predictably and resources are managed properly.