Overview

Mocha

Stacks10.8K

Followers3.0K

Votes430

SuperTest

Stacks1.9K

Followers102

Votes0

Mocha vs SuperTest: What are the differences?

Mocha vs SuperTest: Key Differences

Mocha and SuperTest are two popular tools used in JavaScript testing. While they both serve the purpose of testing and are often used together, there are several key differences between them. Here are the top six differences:

Testing Framework vs Testing Library: Mocha is a testing framework that provides a structure and environment for running tests, whereas SuperTest is a library used for making HTTP requests and validating responses.
Test Runner vs HTTP Assertion Library: Mocha acts as a test runner, executing test cases and generating reports, while SuperTest focuses on making HTTP requests and providing assertions for the responses.
Support for Different Assertion Libraries: Mocha allows developers to use various assertion libraries like Chai, Should.js, or Expect.js, providing flexibility in writing assertions. On the other hand, SuperTest has built-in assertion methods, reducing the need for using additional assertion libraries.
Integration Testing vs Unit Testing: Mocha is commonly used for unit testing, allowing developers to test individual components or functions in isolation. SuperTest, on the other hand, is mainly used for integration testing, where the interaction between different components or services is tested.
Targeted Use Case: Mocha is often used for testing backend code, including server-side logic, APIs, and database operations. SuperTest, on the other hand, is specifically designed for testing HTTP-based APIs, making it a popular choice for testing web applications.
API Request Simplicity: SuperTest simplifies the process of making API requests by providing a fluent API and chaining methods, resulting in concise and readable test code. Mocha, being a testing framework, requires additional setup and configuration for making API requests, resulting in slightly more complex test code.

In summary, Mocha and SuperTest differ in their purpose and usage. Mocha is a testing framework used for unit testing backend code, while SuperTest is a library specifically designed for testing HTTP-based APIs with a focus on simplicity and concise code.

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Advice on Mocha, SuperTest

Abigail

Dec 10, 2019

Decided

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.

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Detailed Comparison

Mocha	SuperTest
Mocha is a feature-rich JavaScript test framework running on node.js and the browser, making asynchronous testing simple and fun. Mocha tests run serially, allowing for flexible and accurate reporting, while mapping uncaught exceptions to the correct test cases.	It is a super-agent driven library for testing node.js HTTP servers using a fluent API. It provides a high-level abstraction for testing HTTP, while still allowing you to drop down to the lower-level API provided by superagent.
browser support;simple async support, including promises;test coverage reporting;string diff support;javascript API for running tests;proper exit status for CI support etc;auto-detects and disables coloring for non-ttys;maps uncaught exceptions to the correct test case;async test timeout support;test-specific timeouts;growl notification support;reports test durations;highlights slow tests;file watcher support;global variable leak detection	HTTP assertions;Asynchronous;Promise support
Statistics
Stacks 10.8K	Stacks 1.9K
Followers 3.0K	Followers 102
Votes 430	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 137 Open source 102 Simple 81 Promise support 48 Flexible 29 Easy to add support for Generators Cons 3 Cannot test a promisified functions without assertion 2 No assertion count in results 1 Not as many reporter options as Jest	No community feedback yet

What are some alternatives to Mocha, SuperTest?

Jasmine

Jasmine is a Behavior Driven Development testing framework for JavaScript. It does not rely on browsers, DOM, or any JavaScript framework. Thus it's suited for websites, Node.js projects, or anywhere that JavaScript can run.

Jest

Jest provides you with multiple layers on top of Jasmine.

Cypress

Cypress is a front end automated testing application created for the modern web. Cypress is built on a new architecture and runs in the same run-loop as the application being tested. As a result Cypress provides better, faster, and more reliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Cypress works on any front-end framework or website.

CodeceptJS

It is a modern end to end testing framework with a special BDD-style syntax. The test is written as a linear scenario of user's action on a site. Each test is described inside a Scenario function with I object passed into it.

Protractor

Protractor is an end-to-end test framework for Angular and AngularJS applications. Protractor runs tests against your application running in a real browser, interacting with it as a user would.

AVA

Even though JavaScript is single-threaded, IO in Node.js can happen in parallel due to its async nature. AVA takes advantage of this and runs your tests concurrently, which is especially beneficial for IO heavy tests. In addition, test files are run in parallel as separate processes, giving you even better performance and an isolated environment for each test file.

Ghost Inspector

It lets you create and manage UI tests that check specific functionality in your website or application. We execute these automated browser tests continuously from the cloud and alert you if anything breaks.

QUnit

QUnit is a powerful, easy-to-use JavaScript unit testing framework. It's used by the jQuery, jQuery UI and jQuery Mobile projects and is capable of testing any generic JavaScript code, including itself!