IntelliJ IDEA with Junit 4.7 “!!! JUnit version 3.8 or later expected:”

When I attempt to run the following test in IntelliJ IDEA I get the message:

“!!! JUnit version 3.8 or later expected:”

It should be noted that this is an Android project I am working on in IntelliJ IDEA 9.

public class GameScoreUtilTest {
    @Test
    public void testCalculateResults() throws Exception {
        final Game game = new Game();

        final Player player1 = new Player();
        {
            final PlayedHole playedHole = new PlayedHole();
            playedHole.setScore(1);
            game.getHoleScoreMap().put(player1, playedHole);
        }
        {
            final PlayedHole playedHole = new PlayedHole();
            playedHole.setScore(3);
            game.getHoleScoreMap().put(player1, playedHole);
        }
        final GameResults gameResults = GameScoreUtil.calculateResults(game);

        assertEquals(4, gameResults.getScore());
    }
}

The full stack trace looks like this…

!!! JUnit version 3.8 or later expected:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Stub!
    at junit.runner.BaseTestRunner.<init>(BaseTestRunner.java:5)
    at junit.textui.TestRunner.<init>(TestRunner.java:54)
    at junit.textui.TestRunner.<init>(TestRunner.java:48)
    at junit.textui.TestRunner.<init>(TestRunner.java:41)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.junitVersionChecks(JUnitStarter.java:152)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.canWorkWithJUnitVersion(JUnitStarter.java:136)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.junit.JUnitStarter.main(JUnitStarter.java:49)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:110)

Process finished with exit code -3

Answer

This problem happens because Android Platform (android.jar) already contains JUnit classes. IDEA test runner loads these classes and sees that they are from the old JUnit, while you are trying to use annotated tests which is a feature of the new JUnit, therefore you get the error from the test runner.

The solution is simple, open the Project Structure | Modules | Dependencies, and move the junit-4.7.jar up, so that it comes before Android 1.6 Platform in the classpath. Now the test runner will be happy as it loads the new JUnit version.