In this article, we have listed the top 10 javascript testing tools, before going into detail let’s first look at the broader picture of javascript testing. Javascript is a frontend scripting language that controls the behavior of users on a website. Javascript also enables users to perform logical decision-making on the fly. Logical decision-making is handled through programming and handling user inputs via functions. In javascript mostly user makes an action on a webpage and some logical decision-making happens based on that action and the user gets a result in a nice view. All of this is handled by writing some code and allowing and restricting user actions and by designing the platform capabilities.
Hereby platform capabilities mean the scope of application, as to what are the things that one web app can do and falls within its domain. In no way should we expect a web app to do things that it wasn’t designed to do. If such behavior is observed or even if a hidderence is seen in the designed system which acts as a block for a user to get to the right end result. Then we can say that there has been a regression in the system or a ‘bug’ in the common language. In the software development lifecycle, a bug is something that is observed within a system and is causing the failure of one or more features.
Purpose of testing
Since the end goal of any web application is to provide an exceptional user experience. The higher the number of bugs found in a system the lower the user satisfaction. To tackle this and get on top of it fortunately we have something called software testing. In the realm of javascript, software testing has a narrower scope, as it is mostly related to user experience. Hence keeping this in mind, test cases are designed to tailor specific functionalities of the system. All functionalities and expectations of the system can be automatically tested with each new build. Hence javascript front end testing is basically mimicking users on the fly and their actions, the test scripts are created keeping in mind that things should be tested as if a real user is using the web app.
Why js testing matters?
In the software development lifecycle (SDLC) testing matters and it matters a lot. It is highly advised that there should be some level of testing involved in the development period of any software. Javascript and web applications are no strangers to this rule.
In javascript testing, everything is mocked. From the user to the data sets, to the functions that occur upon user events. All these actions including API calls and the responses are mocked, meaning created as dummies. The goal in js testing is to check the piece of code (called ‘unit’) actually works.
Unit testing is carried throughout javascript mostly when it comes to front-end web apps and the unit test is also advisable by experts. Unit testing has its perks as compared to functional testing or E2E testing. As in unit testing, nothing is inherited from other modules or components, the integrity of each component or unit lies within itself. Thus we have isolation of concern this way, meaning only one thing is tested for its own functionality at a time.
Top 10 javascript testing tools
- cypress.io
- jest
- mocha
- jasmine
- karma
- selenium web driver
- pupeteer
- protractor
- enzyme
- mocha
Conclusion – Top 10 javascript testing tools
There are numerous js testing frameworks, toolkits, and libraries out there. We have highlighted above the ones that are most commonly used worldwide by js experts. Depending on the needs and nature of the project, you might find one of these tools more helpful than the other. But this mostly depends on the nature of the web app and what needs to be tested. Rest assured, you cannot go wrong by picking any one of these top 10 javascript testing tools.