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ExUnit vs WebdriverIO comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between ExUnit and WebdriverIO?

ExUnit

https://hexdocs.pm/ex_unit/ExUnit.html

WebdriverIO

https://webdriver.io/
Programming language

Elixir

JavaScript

Category

Unit Testing

Browser Automation, Unit Testing, Functional Testing

General info

Unit testing framework for Elixir.

Elixir comes bundled with ExUnit allowing developers to use all elixir features without compromising unit tests. It uses a TDD workflow, and shows one message per test

WebdriverIO is the next-gen WebDriver test framework for Node.js made upon Selenium

WebdriverIO is written in JavaScript and uses Selenium under the hood. It also comes with its own inbuilt test runner and supports other testing frameworks like Jasmine, Cucumber, and Mocha
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

Yes

xUnit has the ExUnit framework as an instance

Yes

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

Yes

Front-end code can be tested using ExUnit, Phoenix front-end framework for Elixir uses ExUnit as the default testing framework

Yes

WebdriverIO allows the use of advanced CSS selectors and makes it easy to find elements for front-end testing
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

ExUnit tests backend code. Typically Unit tests will be written not to interact with the browser, but with ExUnit you can test whichever part of your application

Yes

It can be used to test server side behaviour and functionality
Fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data (fixtures) that are test-local. This ensures specific environment for a single test

Yes

ExUnit has a library called ExUnitFixtures fixtures are functions that are run before a test is run to setup the test environment or provide the test with data

Yes

WebdriverIO supports the creation of fixtures
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.

Yes

Group fixures are possible with this library

Yes

WebdriverIO supports the creation of 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.

Yes

Generators are found in the StreamData module

N/A

Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

Apache License 2.0

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

Mocks are available for use with ExUnit through the Mock module. Also available through the use of third party libraries like mecktest

Yes

It contains a mocking service called 'wdio-wiremock-service'
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

Using the 'describe' function which goups tests together. Every describe block recieves a name which is used as a prefix for upcoming tests

Yes

WebdriverIO allows one to build test suites, you can run these test in parallel and organize them by adjusting the 'maxInstances' property in your config file
Other
Other useful information about the testing framework