The JavaTest harness is a regression tests framework specifically designed by Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

 to tests the reference Java platform implementation.

Although jtreg was originally designed to execute Technology Compatibility Kit

Technology Compatibility Kit

A Technology Compatibility Kit is a suite of tests that at least nominally checks a particular alleged implementation of a Java Specification Request for compliance...

 (TCK) compliance tests, it is not designed to check compliance of a particular Java implementation to the specification, but to test any regressions suite for the Java platform.

History

jreg started in 1997, during JDK 1.2 development. Being developed prior to JUnit

JUnit

JUnit is a unit testing framework for the Java programming language. JUnit has been important in the development of test-driven development, and is one of a family of unit testing frameworks collectively known as xUnit that originated with SUnit....

 existence, jtreg was initially not compatible with JUnit tests syntax, but later versions added a limited compatibility with JUnit.

Use in OpenJDK

OpenJDK

OpenJDK

OpenJDK is a free and open source implementation of the Java programming language. It is the result of an effort Sun Microsystems began in 2006...

, the open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 implementation of the Java programming language

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

encourage the use of jtreg tests for patch submissions.