Mastering Java Unit Testing Frameworks : Comprehensive Guide

Java unit testing frameworks provide programmers with a standardized, sophisticated, and extensible means to build a web application or any other software. It comprises a massive collection of packages that supply pre-written code. Depending on your choice of testing frameworks for Java, they incorporate libraries, compilers, tools, and APIs.

Moreover, extensive Java unit testing frameworks always deliver a secured application. So in case of a security gap, one can resolve it within the framework’s website/support with zero trouble. They even offer built-in functions and modules to enable efficiency and speed for the developers and testers.

The most popular testing libraries are as follows:

1. Mocha

Mocha is a JavaScript test framework for Node.js programs, featuring browser support, asynchronous testing, test coverage reports, and use of any assertion library. It was released back in 2011 and since then has been one of the most popular testing frameworks for the JavaScript world. It allows you to pair it with the libraries you particularly need for functionalities such as assertions, mocking, and so on.

Pros:

• Supports different assertion libraries

• Runs in Node.js, and the browser

• Write tests with Behavior Driven Development (BDD)

• Makes Asynchronous testing extremely easy

• Integrates really well with NodeJS

• Custom full-color test reporters

‍Cons:

• Can be intimidating for beginners

• No atomic tests‍

Top companies using this:

• Accenture

• Coursera

• Asana

• Typeform

• Intuit

2. Jest

Jest is a JavaScript testing framework maintained by Facebook. This testing framework provides a “zero-configuration” testing experience. It provides a straightforward and very convenient user interface. This framework comes bundled with some exciting features like snapshot testing and a built-in tool for code coverage. It works with projects using: Babel, TypeScript, Node, React, Angular, Vue, and more!

Developed By: Christoph Nakazawa

Pros:

• Officially supported by React dev

• Auto mocking

• Snapshot testing

• Asynchronous code testing support

• React native testing

‍Cons:

• Slower due to auto mocking

• Poor documentation

Top companies using this:

• Airbnb

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Amazon

• Stack

3. Jasmine

Jasmine is a behavior-driven development framework for testing JavaScript code. It is heavily influenced by other unit testing frameworks, such as ScrewUnit, JSSpec, JSpec, and RSpec. Jasmine aims to be easy to read. It provides a rich set of built-in matches and comes with an inbuilt test runner. It tests can run browser tests by including a simple SpecRunner.html file or using it as a command-line test runner supported for various languages like Nodejs, Python, Ruby, or (old way) by using Karma, a simple JavaScript test runner tool.

Pros:

• Behaviour Driven Development focused

• Has a very readable and user-friendly syntax

• Allows both DOM-less as well as asynchronous testing

• Integrates very well with Ruby on Rails

‍Cons:

• Maintainers are not very responsive to pull requests

Top companies using this:

• Accenture

• Typeform

• Walmart

• E-Commerce

• GitLab

4. Karma

Karma is another popular open-source productive testing environment. It allows a QA to perform tests for an application in different environments. Karma allows the application script to be executed on real browsers and devices like phones and tablets. Karma aims to provide a testing environment for developers wherein they don’t need to set up loads of configurations. Instead, they can just run the tests and get instant feedback.

Pros:

• Easily extensible

• Provides both Browser-based testings as well as headless tests

• Provides the option of running client/servers either separately or on the Development computer

• Has plugins for WebStorm and is supported by the Netbeans IDE

• You can test your code in cross-browser environments

‍Cons:

• No Support for NodeJS testing

• No plugin for Eclipse (yet)

Top companies using this:

• GitLab

• Ocado Technology

• Appian

• energy2market

5. Puppeteer

Puppeteer is a Node library that provides a high-level API. This API is used to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools protocol. One of the significant limitations of Puppeteer is the fact that it works only with Chrome and Chromium. The Puppeteer can be used for browser-specific applications like page structure tests, taking website screenshots, and more.

‍Pros:

• Actively developed and promoted by Google

• Runs a real browser

• Works great with modern Node.js features

Cons:

• Need to use with JavaScript

• Not good for cross-browser tests

Top companies using this:

• JPMorgan Chase

• New Relic

• Anaplan

• Adobe

Kaushik Nath

Content Crafter at RaftLabs