The simplest test is an ordinary Java program with the usual static main method. If the test fails, it should throw an exception; if it succeeds, it should return normally.
Here's an example:
/* @test 1.1 97/10/12 @bug 1234567 @summary Make sure that 1 != 0 */ public class OneZero { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { if (1 == 0) { throw new Exception("1 == 0"); } } }
This test could be run on its own with the command
<build>/bin/java OneZero