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JavaScript JavaScript Unit Testing Introducing Unit Testing Running Your First Automated Test

Posted by Tony Brackins
Tony Brackins
28,766 Points

Mocha vs Jasmine?

Just wondering why we're using Mocha and not Jasmine as I've heard Jasmine is the standard.

Thanks!

Roger Hwang
Roger Hwang
3,851 Points
Roger Hwang
Roger Hwang
3,851 Points

The great debate begins after popping open another can of worms! Too many choices like a supermarket. I'd say just learn any testing framework to understand its general concept from the start instead of getting into an analysis paralysis debate on frameworks.

1 Answer

Adam Fields
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Adam Fields
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 37,838 Points
Adam Fields
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Adam Fields
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 37,838 Points

Updated article for 2017: https://medium.com/powtoon-engineering/a-complete-guide-to-testing-javascript-in-2017-a217b4cd5a2a

TL;DR:

In short, if you want to “just get started” or looking for a fast framework for large projects, go with Jest. If you want a very flexible and extendable configuration, go with Mocha. If you are looking for simplicity go with Ava.

Adam Fields
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Adam Fields
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 37,838 Points

2019 Update: We still use Mocha at work for all of our back-end NodeJS services. It gets the job done, but lacks the developer experience you get from more modern testing frameworks. Since our front-end is AngularJS/Angular, we use the Karma/Jasmine combination that is the standard within the Angular community. Outside of work, I've moved towards Ava (with Supertest) for back-end unit testing as it includes really simple assertions, is lightweight, and supports TypeScript out of the box. For front-end, I prefer Jest for testing React/Vue components and Cypress for end-to-end testing.