Knapsack Pro

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

Nodeunit

https://www.npmjs.com/package/nodeunit

WebdriverIO

https://webdriver.io/
Programming language

JavaScript

JavaScript

Category

Unit Testing

Browser Automation, Unit Testing, Functional Testing

General info

Nodeunit is a Nodejs testing framework that has Simple syntax, powerful tools. Nodeunit provides easy async unit testing for node.js and the browser.

Nodeunit was one of the first testing frameworks developed for node. It was very useful at the time, but there's an overwhelming number of other worthwhile testing solutions out there that are actively maintained. tap, ava, tape, mocha, jasmine, jest, ... the list goes on and on.

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.

N/A

Yes

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

Yes

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

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

N/A

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.

N/A

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.

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

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