Knapsack Pro

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

Google Puppeteer

https://developers.google.com/web/tools/puppeteer

ExUnit

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

JavaScript

Elixir

Category

Browser Automation

Unit Testing

General info

Puppeteer is a Node library which provides browser automation for chrome and chromium

Puppeteer runs headless by default, but can be configured to run full (non-headless) Chrome or Chromium; It provides a high-level API to control Chromium or Chrome over the DevTools Protocol

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
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

No

Yes

xUnit has the ExUnit framework as an instance
Client-side
Allows testing code execution on the client, such as a web browser

Yes

Most things you can do manually in the browser can be done using puppeteer, therefore you can create a testing environment for your tests to run directly. You can test front-end functionality such as UI testing with puppeteer

Yes

Front-end code can be tested using ExUnit, Phoenix front-end framework for Elixir uses ExUnit as the default testing framework
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

No

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
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

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
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

Group fixures are possible with this library
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.

No

Yes

Generators are found in the StreamData module
Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

Apache License 2.0

Apache License 2.0

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)

No

Yes

Mocks are available for use with ExUnit through the Mock module. Also available through the use of third party libraries like mecktest
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

No

Yes

Using the 'describe' function which goups tests together. Every describe block recieves a name which is used as a prefix for upcoming tests
Other
Other useful information about the testing framework