Hello Everyone :slightly_smiling_face: I wanted to ask about declaring test dependencies as `api` in...

# gradle

[Rohit Verma]

Hello Everyone 🙂
I wanted to ask about declaring test dependencies as api instead of implementation
When we define some test-dependency for a module, eg - testing, like this:

commonTest.dependencies {
    api(compose.uiTest)
}

Then we cannot access that dependency in a module where I'm implementing testing module. However, using api should make the dependency transitive but it didn't. Is it a bug or a feature? Because I can easily access the dependency if I define it inside commonMain source-set using api.

Please let me know if anyone face this issue and how to deal with it. Thanks :)

[ephemient]

commonTest only applies within that module. other modules are only exposed to your commonMain (and other *Main) sources and dependencies

[ephemient]

* except for test fixtures, those are also exposed… but also not totally ready in KMP

[Rohit Verma]

Is it a good practice to use commonMain for defining test dependency to make them transitive? Also, what is test fixture?

[ephemient]

https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/java_testing.html#sec:java_test_fixtures
https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/KT-63142/Add-support-for-Gradle-Test-Fixtures-in-non-JVM-platforms
solve the issue of test code/dependencies in main for the purpose of sharing

[ephemient]

also https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/KT-63285/KGP-Deprecate-testApi-configuration

[Vampire]

It is never a good idea to use transitive dependencies. You should declare what you use where you use it. Only things in your public API (parameter types, super types, return types, ...) should be api.

[Richard Leggett]

If you want e.g. fakes to be exposed to other modules' test source sets you can structure your sub-projects like so:

• some-repo
◦ interface (/api)
◦ impl
◦ fake
Then consume :some-repo:fake to access FakeSomeRepo in another module's commonTest{}.

// in :some-feature:viewmodel's build.gradle.kts
kotlin {
  commonTest.dependencies { 
     implementation(projects.someRepo.fake)
  }
}

That way you are not including your test doubles in production code.