Correct dependencies to use when using WebClient with Spring MVC

Question

I'm using Spring MVC to develop some controllers.

I would like to write some scenario integration tests which will involve calling multiple controllers of my application.

Normally I would have just used RestTemplate within these tests but the documentation states:

Please, consider using the org.springframework.web.reactive.client.WebClient which has a more modern API and supports sync, async, and streaming scenarios.

And so I would like to write future-proof code by using the WebClient. But I have a number of questions:

1. What dependencies should be included here?

 // (1) For Spring MVC:
 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:2.4.1'
 // (2) For spring webflux
 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-webflux:2.4.1'

The problem is am I not including too much by having both (1) and (2)? Is there a separate dependency which I should include specifically just to get access to the WebClient? Or is it best practice to include both of these?

2. Should I write the tests using the WebClient or TestWebClient?

Given that I just want to make HTTP requests to my server in the integration tests I write - I think using the WebClient is fine? Or is it preferred to use the TestWebClient within these sort of tests? What is best practice?

Answer 1

Tested converting an existing integration test that was using TestRestTemplate into integration test using WebTestClient

package no.mycompany.myapp.user;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.reactive.AutoConfigureWebTestClient;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.test.web.reactive.server.WebTestClient;

@AutoConfigureWebTestClient
@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT)
public class LoginControllerTest {

    @Autowired
    WebTestClient webTestClient;
        
    @Test
    public void postLogin_withoutUserCredentials_receiveUnauthorized() {
        webTestClient.post()
                .uri("/login")
                .exchange()
                .expectStatus().isUnauthorized();
    }
}

Added this to POM

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-webflux</artifactId>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>

The following was already in POM

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    </dependency>