Great question! Let’s start by clarifying the key difference here: you want to completely exclude a specific test class from being compiled (so it never ends up in your target folder), which isn’t covered by the execution-skip commands you mentioned (-DskipTests) or the full-test-compilation-skip (-Dmaven.test.skip=true).

Here are two practical ways to achieve this:

Option 1: Direct Command Line Parameter #

You can use the maven-compiler-plugin's testExcludes parameter directly in your Maven command to target the test class you want to skip:

mvn install -Dmaven.test.compiler.testExcludes=com/example/ExampleTest.java

A quick note: Compilation works at the class level, so you can’t skip just a single method within a test class—you have to exclude the entire class if you don’t want it compiled.

If you need to exclude multiple test classes, separate them with commas:

mvn install -Dmaven.test.compiler.testExcludes=com/example/ExampleTest.java,com/example/AnotherTest.java

Option 2: POM Profile for Repeated Use #

If you find yourself needing to exclude this test class often, set up a profile in your pom.xml to make the command shorter:

<profiles>
  <profile>
    <id>exclude-example-test</id>
    <build>
      <plugins>
        <plugin>
          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
          <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
          <version>3.11.0</version> <!-- Use the latest compatible version -->
          <configuration>
            <testExcludes>
              <testExclude>com/example/ExampleTest.java</testExclude>
            </testExcludes>
          </configuration>
        </plugin>
      </plugins>
    </build>
  </profile>
</profiles>

Then activate the profile when running Maven:

mvn install -Pexclude-example-test

Important Notes #

• Path Format: The path in testExcludes is relative to your src/test/java directory, using slashes (/) instead of dots (.). So com/example/ExampleTest.java instead of com.example.ExampleTest.
• End Result: Using either method will ensure the targeted test class is never compiled, so it won’t appear in your target/test-classes folder at all—exactly what you’re looking for.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Kote