Top 5 JavaScript Testing Frameworks

JavaScript is the most popular programming language for frontend development and day by day the popularity is increasing. In this modern world, almost every web app is built using JavaScript. As we are stepping towards the modern era of automation with the immense popularity of JavaScript the need for robust and efficient JavaScript testing frameworks is increasing.

These are the Top 5 JavaScript Testing Frameworks:

What is a Testing Framework?

A testing framework consists of a set of tools that help the developer to test their written code in an automated environment. The testing framework should have the following features:

• The most important is the ability to automatically execute the tests easily.
• It should display the results of the tests in an easy-to-understand way.
• Best practices for writing efficient and organized test cases.

1. Mocha

Mocha is a popular javascript testing framework that is meant for testing applications and it runs using Node.js. Mocha is our first choice because it works on Node.js and provides you with the best front-end and back-end testing asynchronously. The most highlighting feature of mocha is its extreme flexibility which allows the developers to pair it with another library to perform the testing.

For global installation of Mocha use the following command:

npm install -global mocha

For installing it as a dependency use the following command:

npm install mocha

yarn add mocha

Key Features of Mocha Testing Framework:

• It is compatible with both front-end and back-end testing.
• It can help you to easily map the exceptions with relevant test cases.
• Mocha is also compatible with all types of browsers, even headless browsers.
• This is completely open source and flexible to use.
• The best part is that it will give you accurate reports.

2. Jest

Jest was developed by the META to test the javascript codes, especially the applications that are developed using the reactjs. If you are looking for the “Zero- Configuration” testing experience then just might be the one you are looking for. It focuses only on simplicity and works without any type of additional setup. The performance of Jest is extremely impressive with the simple and very convenient user interface. It comes with a bundle of some extra features like snapshot testing and a built-in tool for code coverage. You can see this article for testing with jest.

If you want to install Jest in your system then the installation is very simple. You just need a workstation and install the Jest just by following the commands.

npm install --save-dev jest

If you are using yarn then use this command:

yarn add jest

Key Features of Jest Testing Framework:

• Compatible with React, Angular, Nodejs, Vue, and other babel-based projects.
• It offers the best developer tooling with very less error-prone code.
• Very fast and high-performance testing framework.
• It can manage tests with very large objects using the tool snapshots.

3. Karma

Karma is another popular open-source javascript testing framework that prioritizes feedback without setting up too many configurations. In simple terms, you do not have to worry about the configuration you can just write the code and instantly get the feedback from the test cases. Karman is completely based on the Nojde.js so to install it you just need to have nodejs installed in your system. Now let’s see how to install it.

To install it in your system, just the following the command to easily install it:

npm install karma

If you are using yarn then use this command:

yarn add karma

Key features of Karma Testing Frameworks:

• It gives you access to fully control the workflow from your IDE or CMD.
• Karma has integration with the tools like Travis, Jenkins, and Semaphore.
• The tests can be done on real devices and browsers also.
• It also provides you with the support of a headless environment like PhantomJS.

4. Jasmine

Jasmine is an open-source javascript testing framework that is mostly used for asynchronous testing. It comes with many built-in features and components that easily eliminate the need for other third-party tools. Jasmine is mainly used for testing of frontend development and it has both visibility testing and responsiveness testing for the user interface. You can also automate the user behavior with extra functions like custom delay and wait time for actual user behavior.

Installation of Jasmine is very simple just follow the command:

npm install jasmin

If you are using yarn then use this command:

yarn add jasmin

Key Features of Jasmin Testing Framework:

• It does not require any Document Object Model (DOM).
• Jasmin has the support of both frontend and backend testing.
• Easy to use and straightforward syntax for easy testing.
• The Jasmin community is very large you can get any kind of help from the community at any time.

5. Puppeteer

Puppeteer is not a framework but a simple Nodejs library that provides a high-level API. It can help you to control the headless Chrome or Chromium browser and blazing fast speed. Even if it’s not a framework it comes with many advantages for JavaScript testing. It can be easily used to automate the many of the manual work you do on the browser. Keep in mind that this only works with the Chrome and Chromium browsers.

To install it in your browser you just need the latest version of Chrome or Chromium and then just follow the command to install it easily.

npm install puppeteer

If you are using yarn then use this command:

yarn add puppeteer

Key Features of Puppeteer:

• Very easy automation of UI testing, keyboard inputs, and form submission
• Ability to crawl a single-page application and generate pre-rendered content.
• It automatically captures the site’s timeline trace for diagnoses.
• Provide support for the testing of Chrome extensions.

Conclusion:

When we are looking to test the frontend and the backend it is very important to choose the right framework according to our needs. Here in this article, we have discussed the top 5 most used testing frameworks for Javascript along with their features and installation guide. It can give the overview that which framework is good for your project and If you are not able to choose which one to choose you can just pick any of them and start testing your code.