Annotation Execution Hierarchy ⭐

TestNG executes annotations from the outermost scope to the innermost scope in the following order:

@BeforeSuite
    @BeforeTest
        @BeforeClass
            @BeforeMethod
                @Test
            @AfterMethod
        @AfterClass
    @AfterTest
@AfterSuite

Annotation Lifecycle

Annotation Executes
@BeforeSuite / @AfterSuite Once for the entire test suite
@BeforeTest / @AfterTest Once for each <test> section in testng.xml
@BeforeClass / @AfterClass Once before and after each test class
@BeforeMethod / @AfterMethod Before and after every @Test method
@Test The actual test method

Typical Framework Usage

  • @BeforeMethod → Launch browser and initialize test data.
  • @AfterMethod → Capture screenshots on failure and close the browser.

@Test Attributes

Attribute Example Purpose
priority @Test(priority = 1) Controls execution order
groups @Test(groups = {"smoke"}) Assigns tests to groups
dependsOnMethods @Test(dependsOnMethods = "login") Executes only if another method passes
dependsOnGroups @Test(dependsOnGroups = "setup") Depends on an entire group
enabled @Test(enabled = false) Disables the test
invocationCount @Test(invocationCount = 3) Executes the test multiple times
timeOut @Test(timeOut = 5000) Fails if execution exceeds the specified time
dataProvider @Test(dataProvider = "users") Supplies test data
expectedExceptions @Test(expectedExceptions = ...) Passes only if the expected exception occurs

Priority Rules

  • No priority specified → Default priority is 0.
  • Lower priority executes first.
  • When priorities are equal, execution follows method name order.

Assertions

Assertion Type Behavior
Hard Assertion (Assert) Test execution stops immediately after a failed assertion
Soft Assertion (SoftAssert) Test execution continues, and all failures are reported at assertAll()

Hard Assertions

Assert.assertEquals(actual, expected);
Assert.assertTrue(condition);
Assert.assertNotNull(object);

Soft Assertions

SoftAssert sa = new SoftAssert();

sa.assertEquals(actual, expected);

sa.assertAll();

Important: Always call assertAll() when using SoftAssert.

DataProvider (Data-Driven Testing)

@DataProvider(name = "loginData")
public Object[][] getData() {
    return new Object[][]{
        {"admin", "admin123"},
        {"user", "user123"}
    };
}

@Test(dataProvider = "loginData")
public void loginTest(String username, String password) {
    // Test implementation
}

Key Points

  • Return type: Object[][]
  • Each inner array represents one test execution.
  • Commonly used for Data-Driven Testing.

testng.xml

<suite name="RegressionSuite" parallel="tests" thread-count="3">

    <test name="ChromeTests">

        <parameter name="browser" value="chrome"/>

        <groups>
            <run>
                <include name="smoke"/>
            </run>
        </groups>

        <classes>
            <class name="tests.LoginTest"/>
        </classes>

    </test>

</suite>

Important Attributes

Attribute Common Values
parallel methods, classes, tests, instances
thread-count Number of parallel execution threads

Additional Configuration

  • <include> and <exclude> control test execution.
  • <parameter> passes values to @Parameters.

Listeners ⭐

Implement ITestListener to execute custom actions during different stages of test execution.

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Listener Method Triggered When
onTestStart() Test execution begins
onTestSuccess() Test passes
onTestFailure() Test fails (commonly used for screenshots)
onTestSkipped() Test is skipped
onFinish() Entire test execution completes

Registering a Listener

Using annotation:

@Listeners(MyListener.class)

Or using testng.xml:

<listeners>
    <listener class-name="listeners.MyListener"/>
</listeners>

Common TestNG Tasks

Task Solution
Re-run Failed Tests Execute the auto-generated testng-failed.xml
Retry Failed Tests Implement IRetryAnalyzer
Execute a Group Use <include name="smoke"/>
Skip a Test @Test(enabled = false) or throw new SkipException()
Execute with Maven Configure Maven Surefire Plugin
Generate Reports View reports under the test-output directory

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