Knapsack Pro

XCTest vs unexpected comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between XCTest and unexpected?

XCTest

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xctest

unexpected

http://unexpected.js.org/
Programming language

Swift

JavaScript

Category

Unit Testing, Performance Testing

Unit Testing

General info

XCTest is the default testing framework for unit tests, performance tests, and some level of UI tests for iOS apps.

XCTest framework is a testing framework that enables developers write basic unit tests, performance tests, and some level of UI tests for iOS apps.

An extensible BDD assertion toolkit

Unexpected is an extensible BDD assertion toolkit that is compatible with all test frameworks,is Node.js ready (require('unexpected')) and supports asynchronous assertions using promises among other features. It can be used with any test runner that catches exceptions, but the developer recommends Mocha, Jest or Jasmine as they are integrated tested with every release
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

Yes

Yes, it is an xUnit style framework

N/A

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

Yes

Developers can test individual front-end components with XCTest

Yes

Unexpected 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

Yes, developers can test individual back-end components with XCTest

Yes

Unexpected 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

XCTest contains setup() and teardown() fixture methods for setting up and destroying test environments

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

Group fixtures are available in XCTest

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

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

You can create protocol mocks and class mocks with libraries such as MockFive or Cuckoo

N/A

Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

Developers can define test suites from the XCTestSuite class

N/A

Other
Other useful information about the testing framework