Best practices: fail() vs assertTrue(false)

Question

When intentionally failing a test case (for example when an exception is not thrown) I've seen people use both fail() and assertTrue(false). Are there any advantages to using one or the other?

try {
    //method call that should throw exception
    fail("oops");
} catch (Exception e) {}

vs.

try {
    //method call that should throw exception
    assertTrue("oops", false);
} catch (Exception e) {}

Answer 1

Are there any advantages to using one or the other?

Functionally, no. However, fail() conveys the intention more clearly, and is therefore better.