There is explosive growth in using JavaScript framework ecosystem among developers. A couple of years ago, testing was hard, expensive, slow, and not fun to work. Today the tools are cutting edge, fast, and puts the developer at ease.
The shift in technology has made developers quickly adapt to the JavaScript framework in frontend as well as backend and for rapid prototyping. A number of frameworks increase the tools related to the frameworks are also increasing, especially testing tools and frameworks count is skyrocketed.
Out of thousands of choices in the world of JavaScript frameworks, we have highlighted some of our developer’s favorite testing tools in JavaScript web development. However, you need to know about why JavaScript testing is necessary, and Testing types.

Why JavaScript testing?

If you are new to JavaScript testing, you may wonder why to test client-side code. If a developer freshly codes logic, then it needs tests. More and more logic on our front end codes need tests. The testing makes the refactoring easy and ensures scalability.
JavaScript frontend unit tests focus on actual browsers to test the ergonomy and responsiveness of the application. The backend testing focus on testing the business logic and service endpoint for NodeJS based backend code.

Types of Testing

Unit Testing

Testing an individual unit like functions independently where input is provided with already known output to ensure the expected results are produced.

expect(fn(5)).to.be(10)

Integration testing

Testing the whole application or a component to seek the expected results in the output.

const flyDroneButton = document.getElementbyId('fly-drone-button')
flyDroneButton.click()
assert(isDroneFlyingCommandSent())
//or even
drone.checkIfFlyingViaBluetooth()
  .then(isFlying => assert(isFlying))

End-to-end Testing (E2E)

Testing the application in a real browser. It starts a browser, performs navigations and asserts whether the expected elements are shown in the browser after performing the action. Often ignores the internal working to test expectations. Look at the example below,

Go to page "https://localhost:3303"
Type "test-user" in the field "#username"
Type "test-pass" in the field "#password"
click on "#login"
Expect Page Url to be http://localhost:3303/dashboard
Expect "#name" to be "test-name" 

Now, let’s walk through the best tools we use in JavaScript testing.

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1. Mocha

Mocha is a JavaScript unit testing framework. A flexible base for frontend and backend testing. It runs tests on NodeJs, asynchronously on chrome v8 engine or any other browser. Often used in react applications.
The test runners help you to execute your tests from the command line. It gives the structure of your tests, offering functions for your test. The output of your tests will project in the command line.

Highlights

• Support NodeJS debugger
• Has an in-built test runner
• Flexible on frontend as well as backend
• Asynchronous testing and supports any browser
• Assistance in object mocking to perform flexible backend tests
• Establishes a clean base to develop tests as per the requirements of the developer

2. Jasmine

Jasmine is a JavaScript unit testing framework mainly paired with Angular. It is best suited for Node Js projects and websites. It allows you to perform test cases similar to user behavior on the website.
Highly used for testing frontend visibility and the responsiveness of the user experience on the website at different resolutions. Jasmine is known for behavior-driven development testing framework in JavaScript.

Highlights

• Jasmine can also run on Python and Ruby. Provide assistance if you want to run your client-side tests along your server-side
• Supported by many CIs
• Supports Frontend as well as Backend tests
• The coding is similar to writing in natural language
• Extensive documentation to use it with several frameworks
• Built-in syntax for assertions
• Zero external dependencies

3. Jest

Jest is a Unit testing JavaScript framework, which is regularly maintained by Facebook. Jest is the most preferred framework for React-based application development as it requires zero configuration.

Highlights

• Built-in test runner and assertion functions
• Jest Supports NodeJS, React, Angular, VueJS and babel based projects
• Easy documentation and standard syntax of coding
• Live Snapshots allows you to manage tests with larger objects

4. Karma

Karma is a general use case JavaScript testing framework. Mocha, Jasmine and Jest are recommended to use with Karma or as alternative test runner. It supports your application to execute tests in different environments. You can integrate with CI/CD engines. So that, the tests can be run on real devices.
Highlights

• Run tests on browsers and headless environments as well on devices
• Supports tests in the most popular frameworks
• Supports test case debugging using chrome and Webstorm

5. Protractor

Protractor is an automated testing framework for Angular applications. It runs Selenium in the background. It enables you to start grabbing your data bindings in Angular application. It is a NodeJS program written in JavaScript and runs with Node to identify the web elements in Angular.
Highlights

• Suitable for both Angular and Non-Angular applications

6. Puppeteer

Puppeteer is a fantastic test execution JavaScript framework from Google. This testing tool can go along with various other tools. It provides a headless browser for NodeJS applications. The Node library provides a high-level API to have control over the Devtools protocol. The tool is fast and many developers are already using it on their practices.
Highlights

• Provide support in test chrome extensions
• Supports ES6 functionalities
• Allow setting custom resolutions and sizes for the browser
• Automation support for form submission, User interface testing and keyboard inputs

7. Cypress.io

Cypress is a potent and fast JavaScript E2E testing tool. It offers extensive documentation with ultimate clarity. You can also ship it with Mocha for good logging test results and easy debugging.

This framework practically runs on the browser. Cypress is an independent test runner that doesn’t need to integrate with your code.

Highlights

• Comments automatically retry their assertion
• Works on the network layer
• Easy control of response bodies, status, and header
• Built on top of Mocha and Chai
• Allows to choose whether to stub responses

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Bottom Line

The above JavaScript testing frameworks is going to save loads of time for the developers. Make a choice of which one is the best suited for your requirements and start using it. Tools presented are listed by considering the general understanding of the pattern, trending in the active community of developers.
Choosing the right tools depends on your business characteristics. If you have a problem with that reach us immediately, our experts will guide you to make your testing instances relishing. What testing framework do you use? Share your impressions in the comment section below.

 
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