Unit Testing Tools

Introduction to Unit Testing Tools

Unit Testing tools are the testing tools such as JUnit, TestNG, NUnit, PHPUnit, etc., which are used to perform unit testing on a specific module of code developed by the application developer. Unit Testing process can be described as a type of testing process used to verify and validate a specific module or unit of the code for its correctness to cover the coding standards, functionality, integration, security features, compatibility, performance, etc.

Previously unit testing was performed manually by the testers but now most of the companies have automated this process using testing tools. Substitutes such as stubs, skeleton, mock objects, test harness are used for unit testing of an application as each test case is independent of others. Choosing the right tool according to factors like flexibility, minimum implementation time matters a lot while choosing the right testing tool. Some of the most commonly used unit testing tools are given below:

1. JUnit

JUnit is an open-source tool used for automation of unit testing in Java programming language.
It is considered to be one of the simplest tools available for unit test automation.
It is commonly used for writing repeatable tests.
It supports a test-driven approach which means testing first then development.
It has special features like annotations for test data identification and assertion which is very likely used for the mapping of test results with expected results.
It supports a feature in which test data is tested first and then inserted in the code written.

2. NUnit

One of the commonly used unit testing frameworks used by programmers in .Net languages.
It serves almost the same purpose as JUnit serves in Java language.
It is an open-source framework available free of cost for writing and executing automated test scripts for Unit testing.
It supports the data-driven approach for the development of automated test scripts.
It allows the running/ execution of test cases parallelly.
It has large community support and its new version (version 3) is available in the market with advanced and special features.
One of the special features of unit testing is that it supports console runner for the faster execution of test cases.

3. TestNG

TestNG is one of the most famous unit testing tools which is inspired by JUnit and NUnit frameworks.
It is a framework used by the testers to write automated scripts in Java programming language.
TestNG supports data-driven and parameterized testing for the execution of test scripts.
It is suitable for creating test scripts for unit, integration and system testing of an application.
It is considered to be one of the most powerful and effective tools for flexible test execution and creation.
It allows the sequential and multiple instance execution of the same class.

4. Html Unit

As the name indicates, similar to HTML which is used for creating the UI of any web application, HTML Unit provides the GUI features like forms, tables, links, buttons, etc.
It is an open-source available free of cost in the market.
It supports Javascript and supports a Javascript engine known as Mozilla Rhino.
Html Unit supports the basic protocols like HTTP and https for the request.
It supports methods like GET, POST, proxy server for the submission of requests.
It is used for the unit testing of applications in Java which is used within the famous frameworks like JUnit and NUnit.
It contains the Java library and also makes the use of cookies.

5. Embunit

It is a unit testing framework available for free in the market.
Embunit stands for Embedded Unit and is one of the most commonly used frameworks for unit tests of an application.
It is considered to be a good tool for both the testers and developers for creating test scripts.
Written in C and C++ language, its design is somewhat similar to the JUnit framework.
It is very easy to work in Embunit as there is a separate suite for related test cases and final results are generated in an XML format.
The basic version of Embunit (desktop version) is free of cost whereas the enterprise version/ business version having advanced features is cloud-based and is priced one.
It allows the structured format for the source code generation.

6. SimpleTest

SimpleTest is an open-source framework commonly used for the unit testing of an application.
It is used by the testers and developers for creating the test scripts in the PHP programming language.
It focuses on functional testing more than the unit testing of an application.
It supports basic authentication and SSL too.
It has a special feature that allows the transformation of file of test cases into executable test scripts using autorun.php.
Once familiar with the framework it is very easy to create the test scripts in it and implement it in an application.

7. Jasmine

Jasmine framework is commonly used in the market for unit testing allows programming in Javascript.
It allows the behavior-driven testing and runs on the Javascript platform.
It is very simple to understand and write code in Jasmine as it uses the basic syntax for creating test scripts.
It is one of the framework that allows the asynchronous specifications.
It does not require any DOM structure and is highly influenced by most famous unit testing frameworks like JSSpec, JSpec, etc.

Conclusion

Unit testing creates the foundation of the testing during the whole process of software testing of any application. It is the smallest testable part of an application and hence it should be tested with utmost care. Previously only developers perform the basic unit test of a component after writing the code but with the change in the process of software development and testing, the test cases are created first and the application is coded accordingly which is known as “test-driven development”. Though there are a lot of available in the market but according to the company policies, technology chosen, project budget, the right tool should be selected.

Introduction to Unit Testing Tools