Assertion messages are useful when you need to locate just which assertion failed in a multiple assertion xUnit test. For readability and maintainability these should be short; I prefer not to repeat information that will be added by the test framework’s own failure message. Instead of

assertEquals(“There should be 23 widgets”, 23, testee.getWidgetCount());

I would write

assertEquals(“Widget count”, 23, testee.getWidgetCount());

On failure Junit tells you all you need to know:junit.framework.AssertionFailedError: Widget count expected:<23> but was:<22>.

When testing boolean values I favour using assertEquals as it is more expressive than assertTrue, reducing the information needed in the assertion message. Instead of writing

assertTrue(“Should have started”, testee.isStarted());

assertFalse(“Should not have finished”, testee.isFinished());

I prefer

assertEquals(“Started”, true, testee.isStarted());

assertEquals(“Finished”, false, testee.isFinished());