Question

I am getting this error in java in my junit test code. I looked up on the net and it says that I need to add the junit.jar in the classpath.

In Eclipse I have added it in the classpath of Project Properties windows but I still get initialisation error. What should I do..?

This is the complete trace of the error:

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/hamcrest/SelfDescribing
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClassCond(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$000(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at org.junit.internal.builders.JUnit4Builder.runnerForClass(JUnit4Builder.java:13)
    at org.junit.runners.model.RunnerBuilder.safeRunnerForClass(RunnerBuilder.java:57)
    at org.junit.internal.builders.AllDefaultPossibilitiesBuilder.runnerForClass(AllDefaultPossibilitiesBuilder.java:29)
    at org.junit.runners.model.RunnerBuilder.safeRunnerForClass(RunnerBuilder.java:57)
    at org.junit.internal.requests.ClassRequest.getRunner(ClassRequest.java:24)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.<init>(JUnit4TestReference.java:32)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestClassReference.<init>(JUnit4TestClassReference.java:25)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestLoader.createTest(JUnit4TestLoader.java:41)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestLoader.loadTests(JUnit4TestLoader.java:31)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:452)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:390)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:197)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.hamcrest.SelfDescribing
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    ... 25 more

Answer 1

The problem is an incomplete runtime classpath. Your code may compile fine in the IDE but it needs additional classes (jars) at runtime.

ClassNotFoundException: org.hamcrest.SelfDescribing is indicating which class is missing. org.hamcrest is required by JUnit any it may be missing in your project setup.

Try the following steps to add all of the JUnit4 libraries (including required runtime jars) to the project’s classpath:

1. Right click your project in Package Explorer > click Properties
2. go to Java Build Path > Libraries tab
3. click on ‘Add Library’ button
4. select JUnit
5. click Next.
6. select in dropdown button JUnit4 or other new versions.
7. click finish.
8. Then Ok.

Note, the steps are for a pure Eclipse project. If you use Maven, Gradle or another tool for dependency management you need to add the dependency there and refresh the project setup in Eclipse. This usually happens automatically with the proper integration.