Enzyme vs Jest: What are the differences?

Introduction

In web development, Enzyme and Jest are popular tools used for testing React applications. While both are essential for ensuring the quality and functionality of the code, they have several key differences that set them apart.

1. Rendering Approach: Enzyme focuses on shallow rendering, allowing isolated testing of React components without rendering their child components. On the other hand, Jest uses a full DOM rendering approach, which renders the entire component tree, including child components, for testing.

2. API Complexity: Enzyme provides a more extensive API with multiple helper functions for testing React components, making it more flexible but also potentially more complex for beginners. Jest, on the other hand, has a simpler API, making it easier to learn and use for basic testing needs.

3. Component Selection: Enzyme provides a variety of methods to select React components for testing, such as find(), filter(), and contains(), giving developers more control over their tests. In contrast, Jest primarily relies on selectors like getBy and queryBy from libraries like @testing-library/react for component selection.

4. Snapshot Testing: Jest has built-in support for snapshot testing, allowing developers to capture the rendered output of a component and compare it against future changes. Enzyme, however, does not have snapshot testing built into its core functionality, requiring additional setup and configuration for this type of testing.

5. Async Testing: Jest provides built-in support for asynchronous testing with functions like async/await, making it easier to test components that involve asynchronous operations. Enzyme, while capable of handling asynchronous tests, might require additional libraries or configurations for seamless async testing.

6. Configuration and Setup: Jest comes pre-configured with most of the necessary tools and libraries for testing React applications, requiring minimal setup and configuration. Enzyme, on the other hand, may need additional configurations and dependencies, such as Enzyme Adapter for React version compatibility, before it can be fully utilized in testing.

In Summary, Enzyme and Jest differ in rendering approach, API complexity, component selection methods, snapshot testing support, async testing capabilities, and configuration requirements for setting up testing environments in React applications.