Allow @ContextConfiguration to be omitted

Prior to this commit, the @ContextConfiguration annotation was required
to be present even if default XML files, Groovy scripts, or
@Configuration classes were detected; however, in such cases the
@ContextConfiguration was typically declared empty and therefore
seemingly unnecessary boilerplate.

This commit permits @ContextConfiguration to be omitted whenever it can
be reasonably deduced. Consequently, integration tests such as the
following are now supported.

    @RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
    public class MyTest {

        @Autowired String myBean;

        @Test public void example() { /* ... */ }

        @Configuration
        static class Config {

            @Bean String myBean() {
                return "Hello";
            }
        }
    }

Issue: SPR-13955

spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/ContextConfigurationAttributes.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2015 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * attributes declared via {@link ContextConfiguration @ContextConfiguration}.
  *
  * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @author Phillip Webb
  * @since 3.1
  * @see ContextConfiguration
  * @see SmartContextLoader#processContextConfiguration(ContextConfigurationAttributes)
@@ -43,6 +44,10 @@ public class ContextConfigurationAttributes {
 
 	private static final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(ContextConfigurationAttributes.class);
 
+	private static final String[] EMPTY_LOCATIONS = new String[0];
+
+	private static final Class<?>[] EMPTY_CLASSES = new Class<?>[0];
+
 	private final Class<?> declaringClass;
 
 	private Class<?>[] classes;
@@ -60,6 +65,18 @@ public class ContextConfigurationAttributes {
 	private final Class<? extends ContextLoader> contextLoaderClass;
 
 
+	/**
+	 * Construct a new {@link ContextConfigurationAttributes} instance with default
+	 * values.
+	 * @param declaringClass the test class that declared {@code @ContextConfiguration},
+	 * either explicitly or implicitly
+	 * @since 4.3
+	 */
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public ContextConfigurationAttributes(Class<?> declaringClass) {
+		this(declaringClass, EMPTY_LOCATIONS, EMPTY_CLASSES, false, (Class[]) EMPTY_CLASSES, true, ContextLoader.class);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Construct a new {@link ContextConfigurationAttributes} instance for the
 	 * supplied {@link ContextConfiguration @ContextConfiguration} annotation and
@@ -158,7 +175,8 @@ public class ContextConfigurationAttributes {
 
 	/**
 	 * Get the {@linkplain Class class} that declared the
-	 * {@link ContextConfiguration @ContextConfiguration} annotation.
+	 * {@link ContextConfiguration @ContextConfiguration} annotation, either explicitly
+	 * or implicitly.
 	 * @return the declaring class (never {@code null})
 	 */
 	public Class<?> getDeclaringClass() {

spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractDelegatingSmartContextLoader.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import org.springframework.test.context.ContextLoader;
 import org.springframework.test.context.MergedContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.SmartContextLoader;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
-import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 /**
  * {@code AbstractDelegatingSmartContextLoader} serves as an abstract base class
@@ -202,15 +201,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractDelegatingSmartContextLoader implements SmartConte
 					name(getAnnotationConfigLoader()), configAttributes));
 			}
 
-			// If neither loader detected defaults and no initializers were declared,
-			// throw an exception.
-			if (!configAttributes.hasResources() && ObjectUtils.isEmpty(configAttributes.getInitializers())) {
-				throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
-					"Neither %s nor %s was able to detect defaults, and no ApplicationContextInitializers "
-							+ "were declared for context configuration %s", name(getXmlLoader()),
-					name(getAnnotationConfigLoader()), configAttributes));
-			}
-
 			if (configAttributes.hasLocations() && configAttributes.hasClasses()) {
 				String message = String.format(
 					"Configuration error: both default locations AND default configuration classes "

spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractTestContextBootstrapper.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2015 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.test.context.support;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
@@ -30,8 +31,6 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException;
 import org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils;
-import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextInitializer;
-import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationAwareOrderComparator;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.io.support.SpringFactoriesLoader;
@@ -71,6 +70,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  *
  * @author Sam Brannen
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ * @author Phillip Webb
  * @since 4.1
  */
 public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBootstrapper {
@@ -272,13 +272,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 		CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate = getCacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate();
 
 		if (MetaAnnotationUtils.findAnnotationDescriptorForTypes(testClass, ContextConfiguration.class,
-			ContextHierarchy.class) == null) {
+				ContextHierarchy.class) == null) {
-			if (logger.isInfoEnabled()) {
+			return buildDefaultMergedContextConfiguration(testClass, cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate);
-				logger.info(String.format(
-					"Neither @ContextConfiguration nor @ContextHierarchy found for test class [%s]",
-					testClass.getName()));
-			}
-			return new MergedContextConfiguration(testClass, null, null, null, null);
 		}
 
 		if (AnnotationUtils.findAnnotation(testClass, ContextHierarchy.class) != null) {
@@ -297,7 +292,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 				Class<?> declaringClass = reversedList.get(0).getDeclaringClass();
 
 				mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(declaringClass, reversedList, parentConfig,
-					cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate);
+					cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate, true);
 				parentConfig = mergedConfig;
 			}
 
@@ -307,10 +302,29 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 		else {
 			return buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass,
 				ContextLoaderUtils.resolveContextConfigurationAttributes(testClass), null,
-				cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate);
+				cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate, true);
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @since 4.3
+	 */
+	private MergedContextConfiguration buildDefaultMergedContextConfiguration(Class<?> testClass,
+			CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate) {
+
+		List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> defaultConfigAttributesList
+			= Collections.singletonList(new ContextConfigurationAttributes(testClass));
+
+		ContextLoader contextLoader = resolveContextLoader(testClass, defaultConfigAttributesList);
+		if (logger.isInfoEnabled()) {
+			logger.info(String.format(
+				"Neither @ContextConfiguration nor @ContextHierarchy found for test class [%s], using %s",
+				testClass.getName(), contextLoader.getClass().getSimpleName()));
+		}
+		return buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass, defaultConfigAttributesList, null,
+			cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate, false);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Build the {@link MergedContextConfiguration merged context configuration}
 	 * for the supplied {@link Class testClass}, context configuration attributes,
@@ -324,6 +338,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 	 * context in a context hierarchy, or {@code null} if there is no parent
 	 * @param cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate the cache-aware context loader delegate to
 	 * be passed to the {@code MergedContextConfiguration} constructor
+	 * @param requireLocationsClassesOrInitializers whether locations, classes, or
+	 * initializers are required; typically {@code true} but may be set to {@code false}
+	 * if the configured loader supports empty configuration
 	 * @return the merged context configuration
 	 * @see #resolveContextLoader
 	 * @see ContextLoaderUtils#resolveContextConfigurationAttributes
@@ -335,11 +352,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 	 */
 	private MergedContextConfiguration buildMergedContextConfiguration(Class<?> testClass,
 			List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> configAttributesList, MergedContextConfiguration parentConfig,
-			CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate) {
+			CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate,
+			boolean requireLocationsClassesOrInitializers) {
+
+		Assert.notEmpty(configAttributesList, "ContextConfigurationAttributes list must not be null or empty");
 
 		ContextLoader contextLoader = resolveContextLoader(testClass, configAttributesList);
-		List<String> locationsList = new ArrayList<String>();
+		List<String> locations = new ArrayList<String>();
-		List<Class<?>> classesList = new ArrayList<Class<?>>();
+		List<Class<?>> classes = new ArrayList<Class<?>>();
+		List<Class<?>> initializers = new ArrayList<Class<?>>();
 
 		for (ContextConfigurationAttributes configAttributes : configAttributesList) {
 			if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
@@ -349,34 +370,53 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 			if (contextLoader instanceof SmartContextLoader) {
 				SmartContextLoader smartContextLoader = (SmartContextLoader) contextLoader;
 				smartContextLoader.processContextConfiguration(configAttributes);
-				locationsList.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(configAttributes.getLocations()));
+				locations.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(configAttributes.getLocations()));
-				classesList.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(configAttributes.getClasses()));
+				classes.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(configAttributes.getClasses()));
 			}
 			else {
-				String[] processedLocations = contextLoader.processLocations(configAttributes.getDeclaringClass(),
+				String[] processedLocations = contextLoader.processLocations(
-					configAttributes.getLocations());
+						configAttributes.getDeclaringClass(), configAttributes.getLocations());
-				locationsList.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(processedLocations));
+				locations.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(processedLocations));
 				// Legacy ContextLoaders don't know how to process classes
 			}
+			initializers.addAll(0, Arrays.asList(configAttributes.getInitializers()));
 			if (!configAttributes.isInheritLocations()) {
 				break;
 			}
 		}
 
-		String[] locations = StringUtils.toStringArray(locationsList);
+		if (requireLocationsClassesOrInitializers && areAllEmpty(locations, classes, initializers)) {
-		Class<?>[] classes = ClassUtils.toClassArray(classesList);
+			throw new IllegalStateException(String.format(
-		Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> initializerClasses = //
+					"%s was unable to detect defaults, and no ApplicationContextInitializers "
-		ApplicationContextInitializerUtils.resolveInitializerClasses(configAttributesList);
+							+ "were declared for context configuration attributes %s",
-		String[] activeProfiles = ActiveProfilesUtils.resolveActiveProfiles(testClass);
+					contextLoader.getClass().getSimpleName(), configAttributesList));
-		MergedTestPropertySources mergedTestPropertySources = TestPropertySourceUtils.buildMergedTestPropertySources(testClass);
+		}
 
-		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = new MergedContextConfiguration(testClass, locations, classes,
+		MergedTestPropertySources mergedTestPropertySources = TestPropertySourceUtils.buildMergedTestPropertySources(testClass);
-			initializerClasses, activeProfiles, mergedTestPropertySources.getLocations(),
+		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = new MergedContextConfiguration(testClass,
-			mergedTestPropertySources.getProperties(), contextLoader, cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate, parentConfig);
+				StringUtils.toStringArray(locations),
+				ClassUtils.toClassArray(classes),
+				ApplicationContextInitializerUtils.resolveInitializerClasses(configAttributesList),
+				ActiveProfilesUtils.resolveActiveProfiles(testClass),
+				mergedTestPropertySources.getLocations(),
+				mergedTestPropertySources.getProperties(),
+				contextLoader, cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate, parentConfig);
 
 		return processMergedContextConfiguration(mergedConfig);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @since 4.3
+	 */
+	private boolean areAllEmpty(Collection<?>... collections) {
+		for (Collection<?> collection : collections) {
+			if (!collection.isEmpty()) {
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
+		return true;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Resolve the {@link ContextLoader} {@linkplain Class class} to use for the
 	 * supplied list of {@link ContextConfigurationAttributes} and then instantiate
@@ -389,7 +429,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 	 * @param testClass the test class for which the {@code ContextLoader} should be
 	 * resolved; must not be {@code null}
 	 * @param configAttributesList the list of configuration attributes to process; must
-	 * not be {@code null} or <em>empty</em>; must be ordered <em>bottom-up</em>
+	 * not be {@code null}; must be ordered <em>bottom-up</em>
 	 * (i.e., as if we were traversing up the class hierarchy)
 	 * @return the resolved {@code ContextLoader} for the supplied {@code testClass}
 	 * (never {@code null})
@@ -400,7 +440,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 			List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> configAttributesList) {
 
 		Assert.notNull(testClass, "Class must not be null");
-		Assert.notEmpty(configAttributesList, "ContextConfigurationAttributes list must not be empty");
+		Assert.notNull(configAttributesList, "ContextConfigurationAttributes list must not be null");
 
 		Class<? extends ContextLoader> contextLoaderClass = resolveExplicitContextLoaderClass(configAttributesList);
 		if (contextLoaderClass == null) {
@@ -429,7 +469,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 	 * step #1.</li>
 	 * </ol>
 	 * @param configAttributesList the list of configuration attributes to process;
-	 * must not be {@code null} or <em>empty</em>; must be ordered <em>bottom-up</em>
+	 * must not be {@code null}; must be ordered <em>bottom-up</em>
 	 * (i.e., as if we were traversing up the class hierarchy)
 	 * @return the {@code ContextLoader} class to use for the supplied configuration
 	 * attributes, or {@code null} if no explicit loader is found
@@ -439,7 +479,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 	protected Class<? extends ContextLoader> resolveExplicitContextLoaderClass(
 			List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> configAttributesList) {
 
-		Assert.notEmpty(configAttributesList, "ContextConfigurationAttributes list must not be empty");
+		Assert.notNull(configAttributesList, "ContextConfigurationAttributes list must not be null");
+
 		for (ContextConfigurationAttributes configAttributes : configAttributesList) {
 			if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
 				logger.trace(String.format("Resolving ContextLoader for context configuration attributes %s",

spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit4/OptionalContextConfigurationSpringRunnerTests.java

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.test.context.junit4;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * JUnit 4 based integration test which verifies that {@link @ContextConfiguration}
+ * is optional.
+ *
+ * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 4.3
+ */
+@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
+public class OptionalContextConfigurationSpringRunnerTests {
+
+	@Autowired
+	String foo;
+
+
+	@Test
+	public void contextConfigurationAnnotationIsOptional() {
+		assertEquals("foo", foo);
+	}
+
+
+	@Configuration
+	static class Config {
+
+		@Bean
+		String foo() {
+			return "foo";
+		}
+	}
+
+}

spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/BootstrapTestUtilsContextInitializerTests.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.test.context.support;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
 
@@ -35,63 +36,62 @@ import org.springframework.web.context.support.GenericWebApplicationContext;
  * @author Sam Brannen
  * @since 3.1
  */
+@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 public class BootstrapTestUtilsContextInitializerTests extends AbstractContextConfigurationUtilsTests {
 
 	@Test
-	public void buildMergedConfigWithLocalInitializer() {
+	public void buildMergedConfigWithSingleLocalInitializer() {
-		Class<?> testClass = InitializersFoo.class;
+		Class<?> testClass = SingleInitializer.class;
-		Class<?>[] expectedClasses = new Class<?>[] { FooConfig.class };
+		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
-		Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> expectedInitializerClasses//
+
-		= new HashSet<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>>();
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY,
-		expectedInitializerClasses.add(FooInitializer.class);
+			initializers(FooInitializer.class), DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void buildMergedConfigWithLocalInitializerAndConfigClass() {
+		Class<?> testClass = InitializersFoo.class;
 		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
 
-		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, expectedClasses, expectedInitializerClasses,
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, classes(FooConfig.class),
-			DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+			initializers(FooInitializer.class), DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void buildMergedConfigWithLocalAndInheritedInitializer() {
 		Class<?> testClass = InitializersBar.class;
-		Class<?>[] expectedClasses = new Class<?>[] { FooConfig.class, BarConfig.class };
-		Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> expectedInitializerClasses//
-		= new HashSet<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>>();
-		expectedInitializerClasses.add(FooInitializer.class);
-		expectedInitializerClasses.add(BarInitializer.class);
-
 		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
 
-		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, expectedClasses, expectedInitializerClasses,
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, classes(FooConfig.class, BarConfig.class),
-			DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+			initializers(FooInitializer.class, BarInitializer.class), DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void buildMergedConfigWithOverriddenInitializers() {
 		Class<?> testClass = OverriddenInitializersBar.class;
-		Class<?>[] expectedClasses = new Class<?>[] { FooConfig.class, BarConfig.class };
-		Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> expectedInitializerClasses//
-		= new HashSet<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>>();
-		expectedInitializerClasses.add(BarInitializer.class);
-
 		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
 
-		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, expectedClasses, expectedInitializerClasses,
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, classes(FooConfig.class, BarConfig.class),
-			DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+			initializers(BarInitializer.class), DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void buildMergedConfigWithOverriddenInitializersAndClasses() {
 		Class<?> testClass = OverriddenInitializersAndClassesBar.class;
-		Class<?>[] expectedClasses = new Class<?>[] { BarConfig.class };
-		Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> expectedInitializerClasses//
-		= new HashSet<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>>();
-		expectedInitializerClasses.add(BarInitializer.class);
-
 		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
 
-		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, expectedClasses, expectedInitializerClasses,
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, classes(BarConfig.class),
-			DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+			initializers(BarInitializer.class), DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+	}
+
+	private Set<Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>> initializers(
+			Class<? extends ApplicationContextInitializer<? extends ConfigurableApplicationContext>>... classes) {
+
+		return new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(classes));
+	}
+
+	private Class<?>[] classes(Class<?>... classes) {
+		return classes;
 	}
 
 
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ public class BootstrapTestUtilsContextInitializerTests extends AbstractContextCo
 		}
 	}
 
+	@ContextConfiguration(initializers = FooInitializer.class)
+	private static class SingleInitializer {
+	}
+
 	@ContextConfiguration(classes = FooConfig.class, initializers = FooInitializer.class)
 	private static class InitializersFoo {
 	}

spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/BootstrapTestUtilsMergedConfigTests.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -21,15 +21,20 @@ import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
 import java.lang.annotation.Target;
 
+import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 
+import org.springframework.test.context.BootstrapTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextLoader;
 import org.springframework.test.context.MergedContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.web.WebDelegatingSmartContextLoader;
 import org.springframework.test.context.web.WebMergedContextConfiguration;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.startsWith;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotEquals;
 
 /**
  * Unit tests for {@link BootstrapTestUtils} involving {@link MergedContextConfiguration}.
@@ -39,12 +44,28 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.*;
  */
 public class BootstrapTestUtilsMergedConfigTests extends AbstractContextConfigurationUtilsTests {
 
+	@Rule
+	public final ExpectedException exception = ExpectedException.none();
+
+
 	@Test
-	public void buildMergedConfigWithoutAnnotation() {
+	public void buildImplicitMergedConfigWithoutAnnotation() {
 		Class<?> testClass = Enigma.class;
 		MergedContextConfiguration mergedConfig = buildMergedContextConfiguration(testClass);
 
-		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY, null);
+		assertMergedConfig(mergedConfig, testClass, EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY, DelegatingSmartContextLoader.class);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @since 4.3
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void buildMergedConfigWithContextConfigurationWithoutLocationsClassesOrInitializers() {
+		exception.expect(IllegalStateException.class);
+		exception.expectMessage(startsWith("DelegatingSmartContextLoader was unable to detect defaults, "
+				+ "and no ApplicationContextInitializers were declared for context configuration attributes"));
+
+		buildMergedContextConfiguration(MissingContextAttributesTestCase.class);
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -200,4 +221,8 @@ public class BootstrapTestUtilsMergedConfigTests extends AbstractContextConfigur
 	public static class GermanShepherd extends WorkingDog {
 	}
 
+	@ContextConfiguration
+	static class MissingContextAttributesTestCase {
+	}
+
 }

spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/DelegatingSmartContextLoaderTests.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -55,17 +55,6 @@ public class DelegatingSmartContextLoaderTests {
 
 	// --- SmartContextLoader - processContextConfiguration() ------------------
 
-	@Test
-	public void processContextConfigurationWithoutLocationsAndConfigurationClassesForBogusTestClass() {
-		expectedException.expect(IllegalStateException.class);
-		expectedException.expectMessage(startsWith("Neither"));
-		expectedException.expectMessage(containsString("was able to detect defaults"));
-
-		ContextConfigurationAttributes configAttributes = new ContextConfigurationAttributes(getClass(),
-			EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY, EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY, true, null, true, ContextLoader.class);
-		loader.processContextConfiguration(configAttributes);
-	}
-
 	@Test
 	public void processContextConfigurationWithDefaultXmlConfigGeneration() {
 		ContextConfigurationAttributes configAttributes = new ContextConfigurationAttributes(XmlTestCase.class,

src/asciidoc/whats-new.adoc

@@ -686,6 +686,8 @@ Spring 4.3 also improves the caching abstraction as follows:
 
 * The JUnit support in the _Spring TestContext Framework_ now requires JUnit 4.12 or higher.
 * New `SpringRunner` __alias__ for the `SpringJUnit4ClassRunner`.
+* An empty declaration of `@ContextConfiguration` can now be completely omitted if default
+  XML files, Groovy scripts, or `@Configuration` classes are detected.
 * `@BeforeTransaction` and `@AfterTransaction` methods are no longer required to be `public`.
 * Server-side Spring MVC Test supports expectations on response headers with multiple values.
 * Server-side Spring MVC Test parses form data request content and populates request parameters.