diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/CharacterIndex.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/CharacterIndex.java
index 72da4ffc..5e358af2 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/CharacterIndex.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/CharacterIndex.java
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package com.jayway.jsonpath.internal;
 import com.jayway.jsonpath.InvalidPathException;
 
 public class CharacterIndex {
-
     private static final char OPEN_PARENTHESIS = '(';
     private static final char CLOSE_PARENTHESIS = ')';
     private static final char CLOSE_SQUARE_BRACKET = ']';
@@ -29,6 +28,7 @@ public class CharacterIndex {
         this.endPosition = charSequence.length() - 1;
     }
 
+
     public int length() {
         return endPosition + 1;
     }
@@ -320,4 +320,15 @@ public class CharacterIndex {
         skipBlanksAtEnd();
         return this;
     }
+
+    public void readWhitespace() {
+        while (inBounds()) {
+            char c = currentChar();
+            if (!Character.isWhitespace(c)) {
+                break;
+            }
+            incrementPosition(1);
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
index a9cc86cb..ec3f4a7a 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
@@ -85,13 +85,7 @@ public class PathCompiler {
     }
 
     private void readWhitespace() {
-        while (path.inBounds()) {
-            char c = path.currentChar();
-            if (!isWhitespace(c)) {
-                break;
-            }
-            path.incrementPosition(1);
-        }
+        path.readWhitespace();
     }
 
     private Boolean isPathContext(char c) {
@@ -101,7 +95,7 @@ public class PathCompiler {
     //[$ | @]
     private RootPathToken readContextToken() {
 
-        readWhitespace();
+        path.readWhitespace();
 
         if (!isPathContext(path.currentChar())) {
             throw new InvalidPathException("Path must start with '$' or '@'");
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Configurations.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Configurations.java
index 537d2be0..cd89b2db 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Configurations.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/Configurations.java
@@ -16,37 +16,37 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 
 public class Configurations {
 
-    public static final Configuration JSON_ORG_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration JSON_ORG_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new JsonOrgMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new JsonOrgJsonProvider())
             .build();
 
-    public static final Configuration GSON_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration GSON_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new GsonMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new GsonJsonProvider())
             .build();
 
-    public static final Configuration JACKSON_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration JACKSON_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new JacksonMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new JacksonJsonProvider())
             .build();
 
-    public static final Configuration JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new JacksonMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new JacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider())
             .build();
 
-    public static final Configuration JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new JsonSmartMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new JsonSmartJsonProvider())
             .build();
 
-    public static final Configuration JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
+    private static final Configuration JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION = Configuration
             .builder()
             .mappingProvider(new JakartaMappingProvider())
             .jsonProvider(new JakartaJsonProvider())
@@ -54,21 +54,46 @@ public class Configurations {
 
     public static Iterable<Configuration> configurations() {
         return Arrays.asList(
-               JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION
-               ,GSON_CONFIGURATION
-               ,JACKSON_CONFIGURATION
-               ,JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION
-               ,JSON_ORG_CONFIGURATION
-               ,JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION
+                JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION,
+                GSON_CONFIGURATION,
+                JACKSON_CONFIGURATION,
+                JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION,
+                JSON_ORG_CONFIGURATION,
+                JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION
         );
     }
 
     public static Iterable<Configuration> objectMappingConfigurations() {
         return Arrays.asList(
-                 GSON_CONFIGURATION
-                ,JACKSON_CONFIGURATION
-                ,JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION
-                ,JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION
+                GSON_CONFIGURATION,
+                JACKSON_CONFIGURATION,
+                JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION,
+                JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION
         );
     }
+
+    // Public getter methods for accessing configurations
+    public static Configuration getJsonOrgConfiguration() {
+        return JSON_ORG_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
+
+    public static Configuration getGsonConfiguration() {
+        return GSON_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
+
+    public static Configuration getJacksonConfiguration() {
+        return JACKSON_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
+
+    public static Configuration getJacksonJsonNodeConfiguration() {
+        return JACKSON_JSON_NODE_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
+
+    public static Configuration getJsonSmartConfiguration() {
+        return JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
+
+    public static Configuration getJakartaConfiguration() {
+        return JAKARTA_CONFIGURATION;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/Issue191.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/Issue191.java
index 010ef96f..483c6f1d 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/Issue191.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/Issue191.java
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import java.io.InputStream;
  */
 public class Issue191 {
 
-    private Configuration conf = Configurations.GSON_CONFIGURATION;
+    private Configuration conf = Configurations.getGsonConfiguration();
+
 
     @Test
     public void testResultSetNumericComputation() {
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/JSONEntityPathFunctionTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/JSONEntityPathFunctionTest.java
index 4c6dff22..97b5a9af 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/JSONEntityPathFunctionTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/JSONEntityPathFunctionTest.java
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ public class JSONEntityPathFunctionTest extends BaseFunctionTest {
 
 
 
-    private Configuration conf = Configurations.JSON_SMART_CONFIGURATION;
+
+    private Configuration conf= Configurations.getJsonSmartConfiguration();
 
     @Test
     public void testLengthOfTextArray() {
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/KeySetFunctionTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/KeySetFunctionTest.java
index 0d52202b..7c4770f0 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/KeySetFunctionTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/KeySetFunctionTest.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import java.util.HashSet;
  */
 public class KeySetFunctionTest extends BaseFunctionTest {
 
-    private Configuration conf = Configurations.JACKSON_CONFIGURATION;
+    private Configuration conf = Configurations.getJsonSmartConfiguration();
 
     @Test
     public void testKeySet() throws Exception {
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/SequentialPathFunctionTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/SequentialPathFunctionTest.java
index d3785dc2..6d8d4e37 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/SequentialPathFunctionTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/function/SequentialPathFunctionTest.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
  */
 public class SequentialPathFunctionTest extends BaseFunctionTest {
 
-    private Configuration conf = Configurations.JACKSON_CONFIGURATION;
+    private Configuration conf = Configurations.getJsonSmartConfiguration();
 
     @Test
     public void testFirstOfNumbers() throws Exception {