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Chai vs unittest comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between Chai and unittest?

Chai

https://www.chaijs.com

unittest

https://docs.Python.org/3/library/unittest.html
Programming language

JavaScript

Python

Category

Unit Testing

Unit Testing

General info

Chai is a BDD / TDD assertion library for Node.js and the browser that can be paired with any JavaScript testing framework.

Chai is an assertion library, similar to Node's built-in assert and makes testing easier by giving you many assertions you can run against your code. It also includes a robust Plugin architecture for extending Chai's assertions and interfaces.

unittest is a unit testing framework for Python

The unittest test framework is Python’s xUnit style framework. It is a standard module that is bundled with Python and supports the automation and aggregation of tests and common setup and shutdown code for them.
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

N/A

Yes

unittest is a xUnit style frameworkfor Python, it was previously called PyUnit.
Client-side
Allows testing code execution on the client, such as a web browser

Yes

Chai can be used in a browser environment to test front-end components and functionality

Yes

Front-end functionality and behaviour can be tested by unittest.
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

Chai is used in a Node.JS environment to test server behaviour and functionality

Yes

Since the webserver funtionalities have their own features and each feature has its own functions, we can write tests with unittest to test each function
Fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data (fixtures) that are test-local. This ensures specific environment for a single test

N/A

Yes

By use of the 'setUp()' function which is called to prepare the test fixture
Group fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data for a group of tests (group-fixtures). This ensures specific environment for a given group of tests.

N/A

Yes

unittest allows you to group your initialization code into a setUp function and clean up code in a tearDown function
Generators
Supports data generators for tests. Data generators generate input data for test. The test is then run for each input data produced in this way.

Yes

By using chai-spec-generator plugin which will generate chai test specs from a JavaScript object

Yes

unittest contains generator methods in the module 'unittest.TestCase'
Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

MIT License

MIT License

Mocks
Mocks are objects that simulate the behavior of real objects. Using mocks allows testing some part of the code in isolation (with other parts mocked when needed)

Yes

By using by using a third party library like chai-jest-mocks which is a chai plugin that adds assertions for jest mock functions. You can also use sinon.js

Yes

Mocks are available from the library unittest.mock which allows you to replace parts of your system under test with mock objects
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

N/A

Yes

One can build suites either manually or use test discovery to build the suite automatically by scanning a directory
Other
Other useful information about the testing framework