Knapsack Pro

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

Spek

https://www.spekframework.org/

Chai

https://www.chaijs.com
Programming language

Kotlin

JavaScript

Category

Acceptance Testing, Unit Testing

Unit Testing

General info

Spek is a specification framework for Kotlin

Spek is a Kotlin-based Specification Testing framework for the JVM. It works as a JUnit 5 Test Engine meaning that we can easily plug it into any project that already uses JUnit 5 to run alongside any other tests that we might have.

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

No

N/A

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

Yes

Yes you can test front-end behaviour by writing specifications to test front-end functionality. Developers can also write unit tests for individual front-end components.

Yes

Chai can be used in a browser environment to test front-end components and functionality
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

You can test back-end behaviour and componets by writing specifications to test back-end functionality and unit tests for individual back-end components

Yes

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

Fixtures are available in spek through functions suchas beforeEachTest() and afterEachTest()

N/A

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

spek has group fixtures available through the beforeGroup() and afterGroup() functions

N/A

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

Yes

By using chai-spec-generator plugin which will generate chai test specs from a JavaScript object
Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

Modified BSD 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

You can use the third party library mockito-kotlin

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
Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

Tests are written using nested lambdas, each scope (level) can either be a group or a test

N/A

Other
Other useful information about the testing framework