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Testing is vital for any application, it ensures everything is working according to the project plan by verifying what was specified and what we are going to deliver to the end-users. In general, it helps developers to determine whether the app meets functional, performance, and UI requirements as per specification or not.
The same applies to the React ecosystem- A popular JavaScript framework that abstracts the view layer of an application. With React, it's super easy to build the UI of any web application irrespective of its complexity.
The React community has provided multiple libraries to test React components in the app. So let's begin exploring the following powerful testing libraries and tools of 2022.
Chai: Chai is a BDD/TDD assertion library used to test Node.js and browser-based apps
Cypress is an end-to-end testing framework that is used to set up, write, run, and debug tests in a browser for any front-end framework making tests easier and highly comfortable.
Cypress is used by 413 companies across the world in their tech stack, including Bitpanda, Hepsiburada, Circle CI, Revolut, and BaseDash.
Cypress has an intuitive interface that helps developers to debug tests step by step and see the state of the UI while inspecting elements, API, payloads, etc.
npm install for Mac, Linux and Windows
1 npm install cypress --save-dev
Yarn install
1 yarn add cypress --dev
Jest is the most popular Javascript testing framework created and maintained by Facebook. It is developed to work with Babel, TypeScript, Node.js, React.js, Angular, Vue, and more!
Installation with yarn.
1 yarn add --dev jestM
Installation with npm.
1 npm install --save-dev jest
Enzyme is the JavaScript testing utility for React that simplifies testing react components’ output, and abstracting and rendering of the component. It was developed at Airbnb and then transferred to an independent organization.
The utility is frequently used with Jest, Mocha, Karma, and many other testing libraries. It's hard to work on the React app testing with a testing library like Jest without using Enzyme. The combination of Jest and Enzyme can help developers in creating smooth and flexible workflows.
According to Stack Share, more than 106 companies reportedly use enzymes that include, Airbnb, Stack, Caredoc, Dixa, and more.
The enzyme is the 1st choice of many developers for React app testing. Almost 1/3rd of React applications are still being tested using Enzyme. Other than that the utility uses shallow rendering and full DOM rendering. It allows developers to access React cpmponents. The utility lets you know exactly where the issue occurs, so you can easily find and mitigate it.
You will need to install the enzyme and the adapter corresponding to the react version. So, if you are using React 16, you can run.
1 npm i --save-dev enzyme enzyme-adapter-react-16
Each adapter you are using may have additional peer dependencies, so you need to install them as well.
The library is used for testing React components, it works on the top of the react-dom testing library. The library simulates user behavior in the test similar to Enzyme.
Reportedly 71 companies are using React testing library in their tech stack, a few of them are Graphy, Ze Delivery, Commercetools, Hivebrite, MPB, and Page Builder.
npm installation
1 npm install --save-dev @testing-library/react
Yarn installation
1 yarn add --dev @testing-library/react
Mocha is the feature-rich JavaScript test framework for Node.js with browser support. It simplifies asynchronous testing and test coverage reporting. Overall it gives full control over how you want to test your code by allowing the max level of flexibility.
Similar to Jest, Mocha can be combined with Enzyme and Chai for the assertion and Sinon for spies and stub.
Mocha is used by 627 companies in their tech stack including Accenture, Coursera, Paralect, Typeform, and Asana.
Installing Mocha as a development dependency for your project.
1 npm install --save-dev mocha
Enzyme and Mocha together are a good combination to test a web app written in React.js.
Chai is a BDD/TDD assertion library that is used to test Node.js and browser-based apps and it can be paired with the other JS testing frameworks like Mocha + Enzyme and Jest + Enzyme.
Reportedly more than 62 companies are using Chai as an assertion library, some of them are Brainhub, MOVILL, Payever, Socialbakers, Clovis, Isobar Commerce Center of Excellence, Lunchbox, Quality Minds GmbH, and Keepfy.
npm installation
1 npm install --save-dev chai
Use within browser
1 <script src="./node_modules/chai/chai.js"></script>
In the article we have learned about the top testing tools and framework for React that helps developers to write good tests so that they can deliver the best user experience to the end-user.
Having a good command over a few of these testing libraries enables you to write better test cases for React, which eventually gives you much-needed confidence while pushing your React-based product towards production.
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