Spring: @SpringBootTest is heavier than you usually need

Slice annotations start only the layer under test, so the suite stays fast.

Code

@WebMvcTest(OrderController.class)   // web layer only, service is mocked
class OrderControllerTest {
    @Autowired MockMvc mvc;
    @MockitoBean OrderService service;
}

@DataJpaTest                          // JPA + in-memory DB only
class OrderRepositoryTest {
    @Autowired OrderRepository repo;
}

@SpringBootTest                       // the WHOLE application context
class FullIntegrationTest { }

Output

@WebMvcTest: ~0.4s per class
@SpringBootTest: seconds, and one context per distinct configuration

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Published 2026-08-11