What is the default priority of test cases in TestNG?

Answer

Default Priority of Test Cases in TestNG

The default priority assigned to a @Test method when no priority is specified is integer value 0.

▸Key rule: Lower priority number = runs first

Java

@Test(priority = 1)
public void testWithPriority1() {
    System.out.println("Runs SECOND");
}

@Test
// No priority = defaults to 0
public void testWithDefaultPriority() {
    System.out.println("Runs FIRST (priority 0)");
}

▸Order of execution: testWithDefaultPriority() → testWithPriority1()

Extended example:

Java

@Test(priority = -1)
public void negativeTest() {
    System.out.println("1st — priority -1");
}

@Test
// Default priority = 0
public void defaultTest() {
    System.out.println("2nd — priority 0 (default)");
}

@Test(priority = 1)
public void firstPriority() {
    System.out.println("3rd — priority 1");
}

@Test(priority = 2)
public void secondPriority() {
    System.out.println("4th — priority 2");
}

What happens with same priority? If two tests have the same priority (including the default 0), TestNG sorts them alphabetically by method name:

Java

@Test  // priority 0
public void loginTest() { }  // runs before searchTest (l < s alphabetically)

@Test  // priority 0
public void searchTest() { }

Summary table:

Scenario	Execution order
No priority (default 0)	Before priority 1, 2, 3...
priority = -1	Before default (0)
priority = 0 (same as default)	Same bucket, sorted alphabetically
priority = 1	After default (0)

Best practice: Prefer dependsOnMethods for explicit ordering rather than relying on priority numbers alone.