JUnit Testing private variables? [duplicate]

Question

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How do I test a private function or a class that has private methods, fields or inner classes? (53 answers)

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I have been assigned the task of unit testing a class that I never worked directly on with JUnit, and am strictly forbidden to change the code in the package. This is usually no issue, since most of our unit testing is just for functionality and input/output consistency, which can be done simply by running routines and checking their return values.

However, occasionally there is a need to check a private variable within the class, or directly edit a private variable to check some internal behavior. Is there a way to gain access to these, whether through JUnit or any other way, for the purpose of unit testing without actually changing any of the code in the original source package? And if not, how do programmers handle this issue in the real world where a unit tester may not be the same person as the coder?

Answer 1

Here is an article that solves just this problem (specifically involving testing):

http://onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2003/11/12/reflection.html