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Espec vs Kahlan comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between Espec and Kahlan?

Espec

https://github.com/antonmi/espec

Kahlan

https://github.com/kahlan/kahlan
Programming language

Elixir

PHP

Category

Unit Testing

Unit Testing

General info

BDD driven testing framework for Elixir

It is a testing framework written from scratch which is inspired by RSpec and the main idea is to close to its perfect DSL (Domain Specific Language)

Kahlan is a full-featured BDD testing framework

It is a full-featured BDD testing framework that embraces the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) design principle. Kahlan makes it possible to write unit tests using the 'describe-it' syntax and requires at least PHP 5.5
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

No

No

Client-side
Allows testing code execution on the client, such as a web browser

Yes

Front-end components can be tested; there is also espec_phoenix for the Phoenix web framework

Yes

Kahlan allows you to test front-end components and behaviour easily
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

databases and server behaviour can be tested using Espec

Yes

You can test individual back-end components using Kahlan
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

Fixtures can be defined by use of 'setUp()'method and cleaned using the 'tearDown()'method
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

You can write group fixtures
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.

N/A

N/A

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

It has a Built-in mocking functionality on top of Erlang 'meck' library

Yes

With Kahlan's stubbing system you are able to set stubs (like mocks) directly to your class methods (dynamic mocking)
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

By use of context blocksand tags functions

Yes

Kahlan allows you to group tests syntactically using a closure syntax. It has describe and context methods for grouping
Other
Other useful information about the testing framework