7 files changed, 59 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
index a89d939..bdcbe1f 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
@@ -1520,6 +1520,12 @@ Keyword arguments are the following:
   Protocol](https://www.testanything.org/)). For more on the Meson test
   harness protocol read [Unit Tests](Unit-tests.md). Since 0.50.0
 
+- `priority` specifies the priority of a test. Tests with a
+  higher priority are *started* before tests with a lower priority.
+  The starting order of tests with identical priorities is
+  implementation-defined. The default priority is 0, negative numbers are
+  permitted. Since 0.52.0
+
 Defined tests can be run in a backend-agnostic way by calling
 `meson test` inside the build dir, or by using backend-specific
 commands, such as `ninja test` or `msbuild RUN_TESTS.vcxproj`.
diff --git a/docs/markdown/Unit-tests.md b/docs/markdown/Unit-tests.md
index 3c27732..9c2e3d5 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Unit-tests.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Unit-tests.md
@@ -51,6 +51,19 @@ By default Meson uses as many concurrent processes as there are cores on the tes
 $ MESON_TESTTHREADS=5 ninja test
 ```
 
+Priorities
+--
+
+Tests can be assigned a priority that determines when a test is *started*. Tests with higher priority are started first, tests with lower priority started later. The default priority is 0, meson makes no guarantee on the ordering of tests with identical priority.
+
+```meson
+test('started second', t, priority : 0)
+test('started third', t, priority : -50)
+test('started first', t, priority : 1000)
+```
+
+Note that the test priority only affects the starting order of tests and subsequent tests are affected by how long it takes previous tests to complete. It is thus possible that a higher-priority test is still running when lower-priority tests with a shorter runtime have completed.
+
 ## Skipped tests and hard errors
 
 Sometimes a test can only determine at runtime that it can not be run.
diff --git a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
index 512eeed..c0b2666 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ class TestSerialisation:
                  is_parallel: bool, cmd_args: typing.List[str],
                  env: build.EnvironmentVariables, should_fail: bool,
                  timeout: typing.Optional[int], workdir: typing.Optional[str],
-                 extra_paths: typing.List[str], protocol: str):
+                 extra_paths: typing.List[str], protocol: str, priority: int):
         self.name = name
         self.project_name = project
         self.suite = suite
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ class TestSerialisation:
         self.workdir = workdir
         self.extra_paths = extra_paths
         self.protocol = protocol
+        self.priority = priority
 
 class OptionProxy:
     def __init__(self, value):
@@ -728,7 +729,7 @@ class Backend:
 
     def create_test_serialisation(self, tests):
         arr = []
-        for t in tests:
+        for t in sorted(tests, key=lambda tst: -1 * tst.priority):
             exe = t.get_exe()
             if isinstance(exe, dependencies.ExternalProgram):
                 cmd = exe.get_command()
@@ -770,7 +771,8 @@ class Backend:
                     raise MesonException('Bad object in test command.')
             ts = TestSerialisation(t.get_name(), t.project_name, t.suite, cmd, is_cross,
                                    exe_wrapper, t.is_parallel, cmd_args, t.env,
-                                   t.should_fail, t.timeout, t.workdir, extra_paths, t.protocol)
+                                   t.should_fail, t.timeout, t.workdir,
+                                   extra_paths, t.protocol, t.priority)
             arr.append(ts)
         return arr
 
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
index 5f69e22..03910b2 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
@@ -900,7 +900,8 @@ class Test(InterpreterObject):
     def __init__(self, name: str, project: str, suite: List[str], exe: build.Executable,
                  depends: List[Union[build.CustomTarget, build.BuildTarget]],
                  is_parallel: bool, cmd_args: List[str], env: build.EnvironmentVariables,
-                 should_fail: bool, timeout: int, workdir: Optional[str], protocol: str):
+                 should_fail: bool, timeout: int, workdir: Optional[str], protocol: str,
+                 priority: int):
         InterpreterObject.__init__(self)
         self.name = name
         self.suite = suite
@@ -914,6 +915,7 @@ class Test(InterpreterObject):
         self.timeout = timeout
         self.workdir = workdir
         self.protocol = protocol
+        self.priority = priority
 
     def get_exe(self):
         return self.exe
@@ -2044,7 +2046,7 @@ permitted_kwargs = {'add_global_arguments': {'language', 'native'},
                     'subdir': {'if_found'},
                     'subproject': {'version', 'default_options', 'required'},
                     'test': {'args', 'depends', 'env', 'is_parallel', 'should_fail', 'timeout', 'workdir',
-                             'suite', 'protocol'},
+                             'suite', 'protocol', 'priority'},
                     'vcs_tag': {'input', 'output', 'fallback', 'command', 'replace_string'},
                     }
 
@@ -3383,6 +3385,7 @@ This will become a hard error in the future.''' % kwargs['input'], location=self
         self.add_test(node, args, kwargs, False)
 
     @FeatureNewKwargs('test', '0.46.0', ['depends'])
+    @FeatureNewKwargs('test', '0.52.0', ['priority'])
     @permittedKwargs(permitted_kwargs['test'])
     def func_test(self, node, args, kwargs):
         self.add_test(node, args, kwargs, True)
@@ -3453,8 +3456,11 @@ This will become a hard error in the future.''' % kwargs['input'], location=self
         for dep in depends:
             if not isinstance(dep, (build.CustomTarget, build.BuildTarget)):
                 raise InterpreterException('Depends items must be build targets.')
+        priority = kwargs.get('priority', 0)
+        if not isinstance(priority, int):
+            raise InterpreterException('Keyword argument priority must be an integer.')
         t = Test(args[0], prj, suite, exe.held_object, depends, par, cmd_args,
-                 env, should_fail, timeout, workdir, protocol)
+                 env, should_fail, timeout, workdir, protocol, priority)
         if is_base_test:
             self.build.tests.append(t)
             mlog.debug('Adding test', mlog.bold(args[0], True))
diff --git a/mesonbuild/mintro.py b/mesonbuild/mintro.py
index 1d30149..49eef0a 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/mintro.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/mintro.py
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@ def get_test_list(testdata):
         to['timeout'] = t.timeout
         to['suite'] = t.suite
         to['is_parallel'] = t.is_parallel
+        to['priority'] = t.priority
         result.append(to)
     return result
 
diff --git a/test cases/common/224 test priorities/meson.build b/test cases/common/224 test priorities/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b87ae65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/common/224 test priorities/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+project('test priorities', 'c')
+
+test_prog = find_program('test.sh')
+
+test('priority 0', test_prog,
+     args : ['0'],
+)
+
+test('priority neg 10', test_prog,
+     args : ['-10'],
+     priority : -10
+)
+
+test('priority 1000', test_prog,
+     args : ['1000'],
+     priority : 1000
+)
+
+test('priority 50', test_prog,
+     args : ['50'],
+     priority : 50
+)
diff --git a/test cases/common/224 test priorities/test.sh b/test cases/common/224 test priorities/test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8506fd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/common/224 test priorities/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "$1"