What are some best practices for writing unit tests using JUnit?

Good JUnit practice centers on writing small, independent, clearly named tests that verify one behavior each and don't rely on execution order or shared mutable state.

Key Points: • Keep each test focused on a single behavior so failures point directly at the cause. • Name tests descriptively, e.g. shouldThrowExceptionWhenAmountIsNegative(), so failures are self-explanatory in test reports. • Ensure tests are independent - one test's outcome or side effects should never affect another's. • Use @BeforeEach/@AfterEach for setup and teardown instead of duplicating boilerplate across test methods. • Favor real assertions over print statements, and prefer mocking external dependencies to keep tests fast and deterministic. • Treat test code with the same care as production code - refactor it, remove duplication, and keep it readable.

Example: Instead of one giant testUserService() method covering registration, login, and deletion, splitting it into three focused tests makes it immediately clear which behavior broke when a build fails.

Interview Tip: A concise interview answer is:

"I keep tests small and focused on one behavior, name them descriptively so failures are self-explanatory, and make sure they're independent of each other and of execution order. I also treat test code like production code - refactoring it and removing duplication instead of letting it rot."