With the rise in popularity of JSON as a data interchange format, the need for efficient and customizable ways to bind JSON data to Java objects has also grown. The Java API for JSON Binding (JSON-B) provides a powerful solution for this, allowing developers to map JSON data to Java objects and vice versa.

When working with JSON-B in a Java application, it is crucial to ensure that the mapping is accurate and that the data is correctly transformed between JSON and Java. This is where testing becomes essential. In this blog post, we will explore how to test Java API for JSON Binding using Arquillian, a testing framework that simplifies the integration testing of Java EE applications.

Setting up the project

First, let’s set up the project by adding the necessary dependencies and configuration for JSON-B and Arquillian.

Maven dependencies

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>javax.json.bind</groupId>
        <artifactId>javax.json.bind-api</artifactId>
        <version>1.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
        <artifactId>javax.json</artifactId>
        <version>1.1.4</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
        <artifactId>javax.json.bind</artifactId>
        <version>1.0.2</version>
    </dependency>
    
    <!-- Arquillian dependencies -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.jboss.arquillian.junit</groupId>
        <artifactId>arquillian-junit-container</artifactId>
        <version>1.5.0.Final</version>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.jboss.shrinkwrap.resolver</groupId>
        <artifactId>shrinkwrap-resolver-impl-maven</artifactId>
        <version>3.1.1</version>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Arquillian configuration

Create a arquilian.xml file in the src/test/resources directory with the following content:

<arquillian xmlns="http://jboss.org/schema/arquillian"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://jboss.org/schema/arquillian
    http://jboss.org/schema/arquillian/arquillian_1_0.xsd">
    <container qualifier="jboss" default="true">
        <configuration>
            <property name="jbossHome">/path/to/jboss/as</property>
        </configuration>
    </container>
</arquillian>

Make sure to replace /path/to/jboss/as with the actual path to your JBoss AS installation.

Writing the test

Let’s write a basic test to verify the JSON-B mapping functionality. Consider the following sample class that represents a person:

public class Person {
    private String name;
    private int age;

    // getters and setters
}

Now, let’s create a test case using Arquillian and JSON-B:

@RunWith(Arquillian.class)
public class JsonBTest {

    @Deployment
    public static Archive<?> createDeployment() {
        return ShrinkWrap.create(JavaArchive.class)
                .addClass(Person.class)
                .addAsManifestResource(EmptyAsset.INSTANCE, "beans.xml");
    }

    @Inject
    Jsonb jsonb;

    @Test
    public void testJsonBinding() {
        Person person = new Person();
        person.setName("John Doe");
        person.setAge(25);

        String json = jsonb.toJson(person);
        Person parsedPerson = jsonb.fromJson(json, Person.class);

        assertEquals(person.getName(), parsedPerson.getName());
        assertEquals(person.getAge(), parsedPerson.getAge());
    }

}

In this test case, we first create a deployment using ShrinkWrap to package the necessary classes. We then inject an instance of Jsonb using @Inject and use it to serialize and deserialize a Person object.

Finally, we assert that the serialized and deserialized objects have the same attributes.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we explored how to test Java API for JSON Binding (JSON-B) using Arquillian. By combining the power of JSON-B with the ease of integration testing provided by Arquillian, developers can ensure the accuracy and reliability of their JSON-to-Java mapping. Testing is an essential part of any development process, and with the right tools and frameworks, it becomes effortless to verify the correctness of the code. Happy testing!

#Java #JSONB #Arquillian