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Jest vs Mocha vs QUnit: What are the differences?
Introduction:
When it comes to JavaScript testing frameworks, Jest, Mocha, and QUnit are popular choices for developers. Each framework has its unique features and advantages, making them suitable for different testing scenarios.
Test Runner and Assertion Library: Jest is an all-in-one solution that includes both a test runner and an assertion library, making it easy to set up and start testing without additional dependencies. Mocha, on the other hand, provides a test runner but requires an external library like Chai for assertions. QUnit also offers a test runner and assertion library, making it suitable for simple tests.
Mocking and Spying: Jest provides built-in support for mocking and spying functions, making it convenient for simulating behavior in tests. Mocha requires additional libraries like Sinon for mocking and spying. QUnit does not have built-in support for mocking and spying, limiting its capabilities in complex test scenarios.
Coverage Reporting: Jest comes with built-in code coverage reporting, allowing developers to assess how much of their code is being tested. Mocha requires additional tools like Istanbul for code coverage reporting. QUnit does not offer built-in support for code coverage reporting, making it less suitable for monitoring test coverage.
Community and Ecosystem: Jest has a large and active community, providing extensive documentation, plugins, and support for developers. Mocha also has a supportive community but may not offer as many plugins and resources as Jest. QUnit has a smaller community compared to Jest and Mocha, potentially leading to fewer resources and support for users.
Ease of Use: Jest is known for its ease of use and quick setup, making it a preferred choice for developers looking for a simple testing solution. Mocha offers more flexibility and customization options but may require additional configurations for certain features. QUnit is straightforward and easy to use for basic tests but may lack the advanced features and functionalities of Jest and Mocha.
In Summary, Jest, Mocha, and QUnit differ in terms of their test runner capabilities, mocking and spying support, code coverage reporting, community, ecosystem, and ease of use, catering to different testing requirements for JavaScript developers.
We were able to combine multiple tools with Jest and React Testing Library (e.g. sinon, enzyme, chai). Jest has powerful cli options and increased performance including from parallel testing processes. Migrating was reasonably straight forward as there is a code transformation script to do most of the leg work. Jest's documentation is excellent.
As we all know testing is an important part of any application. To assist with our testing we are going to use both Cypress and Jest. We feel these tools complement each other and will help us get good coverage of our code. We will use Cypress for our end to end testing as we've found it quite user friendly. Jest will be used for our unit tests because we've seen how many larger companies use it with great success.
Postman will be used to do integration testing with the backend API we create. It offers a clean interface to create many requests, and you can even organize these requests into collections. It helps to test the backend API first to make sure it's working before using it in the front-end. Jest can also be used for testing and is already embedded into React. Not only does it offer unit testing support in javascript, it can also do snapshot testing for the front-end to make sure components are rendering correctly. Enzyme is complementary to Jest and offers more functions such as shallow rendering. UnitTest will be used for Python testing as it is simple, has a lot of functionality and already built in with python. Sentry will be used for keeping track of errors as it is also easily integratable with Heroku because they offer it as an add-on. LogDNA will be used for tracking logs which are not errors and is also a Heroku add-on. Its good to have a separate service to record logs, monitor, track and even fix errors in real-time so our application can run more smoothly.
We use Mocha for our FDA verification testing. It's integrated into Meteor, our upstream web application framework. We like how battle tested it is, its' syntax, its' options of reporters, and countless other features. Most everybody can agree on mocha, and that gets us half-way through our FDA verification and validation (V&V) testing strategy.
Pros of Jest
- Open source36
- Mock by default makes testing much simpler32
- Testing React Native Apps23
- Parallel test running20
- Fast16
- Bundled with JSDOM to enable DOM testing13
- Mock by default screws up your classes, breaking tests8
- Out of the box code coverage7
- Promise support7
- One stop shop for unit testing6
- Great documentation3
- Assert Library Included2
- Built in watch option with interactive filtering menu1
- Preset support1
- Can be used for BDD0
- Karma0
Pros of Mocha
- Open source137
- Simple102
- Promise support81
- Flexible48
- Easy to add support for Generators29
- For browser and server testing12
- Curstom assertion libraries7
- Works with Karma5
- No other better tools3
- Simple setup1
- Works with saucelabs1
- Lots of tutorials and help online1
- Default reporter is nice, clean, and itemized1
- Works with BrowserStack1
- Simple integration testing1
Pros of QUnit
- Simple6
- Open Source4
- Promise support3
- Easy setup3
- Excellent GUI1
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Cons of Jest
- Documentation4
- Ambiguous configuration4
- Difficult3
- Many bugs still not fixed months/years after reporting2
- Multiple error messages for same error2
- Difficult to run single test/describe/file2
- Ambiguous2
- Bugged2
- BeforeAll timing out makes all passing tests fail1
- Slow1
- Reporter is too general1
- Unstable1
- Bad docs1
- Still does't support .mjs files natively1
- Can't fail beforeAll to abort tests1
- Interaction with watch mode on terminal0
Cons of Mocha
- Cannot test a promisified functions without assertion3
- No assertion count in results2
- Not as many reporter options as Jest1
Cons of QUnit
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