java.lang.IncompatibleClassChangeError caused by ActivityTestRule instantiation

Question

I added an espresso test to my Android project and got an IncompatibleClassChangeError on the line that is creating an ActivityTestRule. How do I find out what caused it?

Here is the line of code that has caused the error: (HomePageScreenTest.java:27)

@Rule
public ActivityTestRule<HomePageActivity> homePageActivityTestRule = new ActivityTestRule<>(HomePageActivity.class);

Here is the error:

java.lang.IncompatibleClassChangeError: com.example.rocklee.mehmvp.HomePage.HomePageActivity
at dalvik.system.DexFile.defineClassNative(Native Method)
at dalvik.system.DexFile.defineClass(DexFile.java:226)
at dalvik.system.DexFile.loadClassBinaryName(DexFile.java:219)
at dalvik.system.DexPathList.findClass(DexPathList.java:321)
at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass(BaseDexClassLoader.java:54)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:511)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:469)
at com.example.rocklee.mehmvp.HomePage.HomePageScreenTest.<init>(HomePageScreenTest.java:27)
at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:288)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.createTest(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:217)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner$1.runReflectiveCall(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:266)
at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:12)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.methodBlock(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:263)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:78)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:57)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:290)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:71)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:288)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:58)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:268)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:363)
at org.junit.runners.Suite.runChild(Suite.java:128)
at org.junit.runners.Suite.runChild(Suite.java:27)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:290)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:71)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:288)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:58)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:268)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:363)
at org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.run(JUnitCore.java:137)
at org.junit.runner.JUnitCore.run(JUnitCore.java:115)
at android.support.test.internal.runner.TestExecutor.execute(TestExecutor.java:54)
at android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner.onStart(AndroidJUnitRunner.java:240)
at android.app.Instrumentation$InstrumentationThread.run(Instrumentation.java:1853)

Answer 1

In my build.gradle dependencies, I just had to change

androidTestCompile 'com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-contrib:2.2.1'

to

// Espresso-contrib for DatePicker, RecyclerView, Drawer actions, Accessibility checks, CountingIdlingResource
androidTestCompile ('com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-contrib:2.2.1') {
    exclude module: 'support-annotations'
    exclude module: 'support-v4'
    exclude module: 'support-v13'
    exclude module: 'recyclerview-v7' 
}

I found this code in jacobduron's comment on this answer, and it fixed my problem.