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Building a desktop application requires a lot of effort as there are different types of platforms, such as Windows, Mac, Linux, etc. The Electron application is the modern way to create desktop applications using the Chromium engine and NodeJS. Just like any desktop application electron testing needs to be carried out for Electron applications.<gwmw style="display:none;"><gwmw style="display:none;"></gwmw>



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_an_Electron_Application">1 What is an Electron Application?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Electron_Testing">2 What is Electron Testing?</a><ul><li><a href="#Examples_of_Electron_Applications">2.1 Examples of Electron Applications</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#How_to_Test_Electron_Applications">3 How to Test Electron Applications?</a><ul><li><a href="#Manual_Testing">3.1 Manual Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Automation_Testing">3.2 Automation Testing</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Code_or_No_Code_Automation_for_Electron">4 Code or No Code Automation for Electron?</a><ul><li><a href="#Code-based_automation">4.1 Code-based automation</a></li><li><a href="#Low-code_automation">4.2 Low-code automation</a></li><li><a href="#No-Code_automation">4.3 No-Code automation</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Why_Codeless_Automation_can_help_with_Electron_Testing">5 Why Codeless Automation can help with Electron Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#Challenges_of_Testing_Electron_Applications">6 Challenges of Testing Electron Applications</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions_FAQ">7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</a><ul><li><a href="#Can_Selenium_be_used_for_Electron_Testing">7.1 Can Selenium be used for Electron Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_Test_framework_should_I_Choose_for_Electron_Test_Automation_and_Why">7.2 What Test framework should I Choose for Electron Test Automation and Why?</a></li><li><a href="#How_do_you_Unit_Test_Electron_Apps">7.3 How do you Unit Test Electron Apps?</a></li><li><a href="#Are_PWA8217s_and_Electron_Apps_are_Same">7.4 Are PWA&#8217;s and Electron Apps are Same?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-what-is-an-electron-application">What is an Electron Application?</h2>



The Electron applications are a type of desktop applications that are created using the open-source ElectronJS framework. Electron application uses the potential of a web application to create a desktop application. The front-end components are rendered using the powerful Chromium engine and uses the NodeJS in the backend. The Electron application can use CSS, HTML, Javascript, and other web application libraries.



<h2 id="h-what-is-electron-testing">What is Electron Testing?</h2>



Electron Testing is the process of testing the Electron applications to ensure functionality across the platform. The Electron applications are built with ElectronJS. This utilizes the capability of Chromium and NodeJS along with web-based components such as HTML, CSS, JS, etc. Many modern application applications use the Electron. Some of the examples are MS Teams, Postman, Atom, VS Code, etc. Electron testing can be carried out using the popular automation framework like <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/playwright-vs-selenium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium or Playwright</a>.



<h3 id="h-examples-of-electron-applications">Examples of Electron Applications</h3>



There are many applications written in Electron. As a user, you might be using them unknowingly. Below are some of the list of popular Electron applications



<ul><li>Postman</li><li>Teams by Microsoft</li><li>Visual Studio Code by Microsoft</li><li>Atom</li><li>WebTorrent</li><li>WhatsApp Desktop</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-how-to-test-electron-applications">How to Test Electron Applications?</h2>



Electron applications use web components, but they don’t render on a browser. The Electron application launches its own window on the desktop, which makes the Electron application complicated to test. However, thankfully, there are a few tools that support Electron app testing.&nbsp;



<h3 id="h-manual-testing">Manual Testing</h3>



The Electron application can be tested manually or through automation. The <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/manual-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">manual testing</a> requires the following steps



<ul><li>Generate the Electron application build</li><li>Install the application on the desktop</li><li>Launch the Electron app</li><li>Test against the expected and actual behavior</li></ul>



<h3 id="h-automation-testing">Automation Testing</h3>



There are only a few automation tools that support Electron Testing. Some of the tools are Selenium, Playwright, and WebdriverIO. Since selenium is the most widely used open-source automation framework, we have taken an example of Selenium and the Electron driver to test the Electron application.



Steps to Test the Electron Applications



<ol><li>Locate the electron app you want to test</li></ol>



The Electron applications are different from the web applications. The electron application contains the binaries. You need to prepare the electron app for testing.



<ol start="2"><li>Install the electron-chromedriver</li></ol>



The Electron Chrome driver helps to interact with Electron apps.



<ol start="3"><li>Install the selenium-webdriver</li></ol>



The Selenium webdriver functions just like any other application testing.&nbsp;



Once you get all required components installed proceed to the next step.



<ol start="4"><li>Create a driver instance</li></ol>



const webdriver = require(&#8216;selenium-webdriver&#8217;)



const driver = new webdriver.Builder()



&nbsp;&nbsp;// The &#8220;9515&#8221; is the port opened by ChromeDriver.



&nbsp;&nbsp;.usingServer(&#8216;http://localhost:9515&#8217;)



&nbsp;&nbsp;.withCapabilities({



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8216;goog:chromeOptions&#8217;: {



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;// Here is the path to your Electron binary.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;binary: &#8216;/Path-to-Your-App.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron&#8217;



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}



&nbsp;&nbsp;})



&nbsp;&nbsp;.forBrowser(&#8216;chrome&#8217;)



&nbsp;&nbsp;.build()



In the above code, we are creating the webdriver instance and then we are passing the electron driver port 9515. The binary path of your application is mentioned to launch the Electron App.



<h2 id="h-code-or-no-code-automation-for-electron">Code or No Code Automation for Electron?</h2>



There are different approaches to address the <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automation testing</a> needs for Electron. As you can see from the above steps we have performed the automation testing by writing the code. There are different types of frameworks such as code, low code, and no code. Let&#8217;s understand one by one in detail.



 <img loading="lazy" width="602" height="222" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXewXPQTADlbkAB1BZ5XryQ7RsIfmx0R8ba04im2lSlgc0XkFGS0KypK3tOfdkCkAJnwy9g1i2HeMB1UogsE6uLQKD-78fv4P-tl_5RmgF3BXVnKpSnUSVZwAQz9eOc1uPMjGECMT2lbkBpwV7JzXUf3pu_SL6EMO-SwpMSVKypejc7jF9x97iA?key=97CmvEsGTsb4cVygQrUDOQ">



<h3 id="h-code-based-automation">Code-based automation</h3>



Code-based automation requires good technical knowledge. As you know automation is the simulation of user functionality. These simulations are performed by writing programming language/scripts such as Javascript, Java, C#, etc. The code-based automation tools are less expensive. Many code-based automation tools are open-sourced or free. But it requires time and effort to create a framework. Maintenance is a more challenging and time-consuming job. Depending on the feature or user interface changes, often requires rewriting or updating the automation scripts.



<h3 id="h-low-code-automation">Low-code automation</h3>



Low code uses the combination of drag and drop and programming. This means coding will be minimal but still requires you to code. Unlike code-based automation tools, it doesn&#8217;t require in-depth technical knowledge but requires basic technical knowledge to perform day-to-day tasks. These are useful if the application is complex and when drag-and-drop support is not completely available.



<h3 id="h-no-code-automation">No-Code automation</h3>



The no-code automation doesn&#8217;t require you to write any form of code. It is also known as codeless automation. All actions are performed using drag and drop or making some configuration changes. Tools like Testsigma offer no code automation to a great extent. One of the main advantages of no code automation is manual testers or people who have less technical knowledge can also contribute to the automation to make the process faster. Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/codeless-automation-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Codeless Testing Tools</a>



<h2 id="h-why-codeless-automation-can-help-with-electron-testing">Why Codeless Automation can help with Electron Testing?</h2>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/codeless-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Codeless automation testing</a> is becoming popular nowadays as it requires less technical or programming knowledge. There are some advantages in codeless automation let&#8217;s understand them.



Faster to automate



Using the code-less automation tool anyone can contribute to automation. So no need for dedicated resources for testing. The team can collaboratively contribute to the automation and achieve good coverage. The QA typically requires less time to debug and fix the scripts.



Speed up the release



As manual test cases can be easily converted to automation. The automation suite can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines which makes release faster.



Higher productivity



The Codeless automation tools come with easy-to-debug features. The productivity increases as QAs can only focus on test cases rather than core framework features. Furthermore, the learning curve is very low which makes the entire time will be dedicated to automation.



<h2 id="h-challenges-of-testing-electron-applications">Challenges of Testing Electron Applications</h2>



Limited tools support



The Electron applications are supported by only limited automation tools. You need to choose between the available tools. The open-source tool may not be able to achieve complete testing coverage



Complex to set up the framework



The Electron applications are different from web application which runs on browser. To set up a robust framework requires a deep level of technical understanding.



Manual Testing is not feasible



As the application grows, it requires covering a large number of test cases. Completing the regression can take a couple of days to a week. So manual testing requires more effort and resources.



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cross-platform-end-to-end-testing-explained-with-real-life-scenarios/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cross Platform Testing</a>



Usually, the electron applications are built to support the cross-platform. As the automation tool itself is limited we need to choose the best-fit tools. Testing the cross-platform compatibility makes it even more complex in Electron as it requires infrastructure setup.



Many organizations are now switching to <a href="https://brainhub.eu/library/electron-app-examples" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Electron based desktop clients</a>. The ElectronJS makes desktop applications more powerful and provides a rich user experience. However, electron application testing has its own challenges. Automating electron application is a major challenge as it requires a complex setup and tools availability is limited. The No-code automation tools can make the automation faster and more reliable.



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<h2 id="h-frequently-asked-questions-faq">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</h2>



<h3 id="h-can-selenium-be-used-for-electron-testing">Can Selenium be used for Electron Testing?</h3>



Yes, Selenium can be used for Electron Testing. However, you need to install the Electron-specific drivers and configure them in order to test the Electron apps. Once the pre-requisite is completed and the initial launch of the Electron app is done, then the testing of electron applications is just like testing any web-based applications.



<h3 id="h-what-test-framework-should-i-choose-for-electron-test-automation-and-why">What Test framework should I Choose for Electron Test Automation and Why?</h3>



The test framework for Electron Test automation should be chosen based on your requirements. Both commercial and open-source automation frameworks are available in the market. WebdriverIO, Selenium, and Playwright are some of the open-source test automation tools for the Electron App. There are many no-code automation tools in the market. The no-code automation tool helps to increase the automation test coverage swiftly.



<h3 id="h-how-do-you-unit-test-electron-apps">How do you Unit Test Electron Apps?</h3>



The Unit testing Electron requires the installation of one of the unit testing frameworks for example Jest. Once you install the unit testing library you can start by creating specs. Each spec contains the set of unit tests for the Electron app. In unit tests create assertions for actual and expected results.



<h3 id="h-are-pwa-s-and-electron-apps-are-same">Are PWA&#8217;s and Electron Apps are Same?</h3>



Progressive Web Applications (PWA) are web applications that operate in the browser and provides the native platform experience, On the other hand, Electron apps are just like desktop application they need to be installed. PWA&#8217;s doesn&#8217;t require any installation. Electron apps can interface with parts of your machine but PWA&#8217;s cannot do that. Some&nbsp; examples of PWA&#8217;s are Starbucks, Twitter, BMW, etc.

Electron Testing | What it is and How to Perform?

NUnit vs xUnit vs MSTest: Which is better? Detailed Comparison

NUnit vs xUnit vs MSTest: Which is Better? Detailed Comparison

Testing is the most critical part of the Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC). Testing is performed at different levels such as Unit Testing, Integration Testing, and Functional Testing. Testing can be performed either manually or through automation. The tools or libraries which are used for test automation vary with the framework that you are using. For example, if you are using a JavaScript framework, you might have to use Jasmine, Jest, etc. The JUnit and TestNG are the most popular Java testing frameworks, so let’s explore JUnit vs TestNG in detail here.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#JUnit_vs_TestNG_8211_Overview">1 JUnit vs TestNG &#8211; Overview</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_JUnit">1.1 What is JUnit?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_TestNG">1.2 What is TestNG?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Similarities_Between_JUnit_and_TestNG">2 Similarities Between JUnit and TestNG</a></li><li><a href="#Top_20_Core_Differences_between_JUnit_and_TestNG">3 Top 20 Core Differences between JUnit and TestNG</a></li><li><a href="#Why_is_JUnit_More_Popular_than_TestNG">4 Why is JUnit More Popular than TestNG?</a></li><li><a href="#Can_We_Use_JUnit_and_TestNG_Together">5 Can We Use JUnit and TestNG Together?</a></li><li><a href="#Summary">6 Summary</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">7 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#JUnit_vs_TestNG_which_is_better">7.1 JUnit vs TestNG, which is better?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_main_difference_between_JUnit_and_TestNG">7.2 What is the main difference between JUnit and TestNG?</a></li><li><a href="#Does_TestNG_use_JUnit">7.3 Does TestNG use JUnit?</a></li><li><a href="#JUnit_vs_TestNG_What_are_the_advantages_of_TestNG">7.4 JUnit vs TestNG? What are the advantages of TestNG?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="junit-vs-testng-overview">JUnit vs TestNG &#8211; Overview</h2>



<h3 id="h-what-is-junit">What is JUnit?</h3>



JUnit happens to be among the most popular unit testing frameworks for Java. It offers a simple and effective solution when it comes to writing and running unit tests for Java code. In JUnit, test cases are generally written as Java classes that have methods to test particular units of code—methods, for example, or classes.



Features of JUnit



Annotations: JUnit uses annotations to define test cases, test suites, and expected exceptions.



Assertions: JUnit provides several different assertion methods, such as assertEquals, assertTrue, and assertFalse, to check the correctness of the results being tested.



Test Runners: JUnit comes with built-in test runners for running tests and reporting results.



Fixtures: JUnit has built-in support for the creation and cleanup of fixture objects.



Test Suites: JUnit enables the creation of test suites so that related tests can be executed together. This is a cleaner and simpler approach.



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cucumber-vs-junit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cucumber vs JUnit</a>



<h3 id="h-what-is-testng">What is TestNG?</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="798" height="134" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/13142510/TestNG.jpg" alt="TestNG" class="wp-image-47228" srcset="https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/13142510/TestNG.jpg 798w, https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/13142510/TestNG-768x129.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" /></figure>



TestNG is a unit testing framework for Java classes developed to fill in the gaps left by JUnit and NUnit. It introduces some new concepts that were not available in JUnit or NUnit at the time, like groups, flexible configurations for running test cases, and data-driven testing at the test suite level.



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/testng-vs-cucumber/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TestNG vs Cucumber</a>



Features of TestNG



Annotations: TestNG uses annotations to define test cases, test suites, and test configurations.



Data-Driven Testing: TestNG supports data-driven testing. It allows running the same test with different data sets.



Parallel Testing: TestNG has the capability to execute tests in parallel, which is advantageous for improving performance for large test suites.



Listeners: TestNG equips listeners to customize the way tests are run and how results are reported.



Dependencies: TestNG allows the specification of dependencies between test methods so that they are executed in the right order.



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/parameterization-in-testng/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parameterization in TestNG</a>



<h2 id="h-similarities-between-junit-and-testng">Similarities Between JUnit and TestNG</h2>



The table below shows the similarities between JUnit and TestNG:



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Feature</td><td>JUnit</td><td>TestNG</td></tr><tr><td>Core Purpose</td><td>Unit testing for Java</td><td>Unit testing for Java</td></tr><tr><td>Annotation-based Testing</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Assertion Mechanisms</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Test Suites</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Test Reporting</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Parameterized Testing</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Dependent Tests</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Data-Driven Testing</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Parallel Test Execution</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Grouping of Tests</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Test Listeners</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<h2 id="h-top-20-core-differences-between-junit-and-testng">Top 20 Core Differences between JUnit and TestNG</h2>



Check out the core differences in the table below:



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Feature</td><td>JUnit</td><td>TestNG</td></tr><tr><td>Open Source</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Setup</td><td>Straightforward, minimal configuration</td><td>Easy, and to add dependencies</td></tr><tr><td>User-Friendliness</td><td>May require additional integrations (e.g., JUnit Jupiter) for some features</td><td>More features out of the box, user-friendly</td></tr><tr><td>Listener Implementation Read here – <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/listeners-in-selenium/">Listeners in Selenium</a>&nbsp;</td><td>Less intuitive (Listeners API)</td><td>More intuitive (annotations)</td></tr><tr><td>Reporting</td><td>No built-in HTML reporting integrates with Maven or other tools</td><td>Built-in HTML reporting integrates with Maven</td></tr><tr><td>Parallel Test Execution</td><td>Not supported directly (workarounds possible)</td><td>Natively supported (improves efficiency)</td></tr><tr><td>Dependency Testing</td><td>Not supported, tests run independently</td><td>Supported, allows tests to depend on others</td></tr><tr><td>Data-Driven Testing</td><td>Supported, but requires more effort</td><td>Straightforward, special annotations (@DataProvider)</td></tr><tr><td>Test Grouping</td><td>Supported using tags (may require additional setup)</td><td>Seamless, allows organized execution by groups</td></tr><tr><td>Test Priority/Order</td><td>Controllable, but less flexible</td><td>Explicit priorities for precise control over execution order</td></tr><tr><td>Assumptions Support</td><td>Yes, tests can be skipped based on conditions</td><td>No built-in support focuses on strict execution</td></tr><tr><td>Parameterized Tests</td><td>Supported, but requires additional annotations (e.g., @ParameterizedTest)</td><td>Supported, but uses different annotations (@Test(dataProvider = &#8220;dataProvider&#8221;))</td></tr><tr><td>Timeout Support</td><td>Supported, allows tests to be terminated after a specified time</td><td>Supported, but provides more flexibility with timeout configurations</td></tr><tr><td>Fixed Suite</td><td>Yes, a fixed set of tests is defined in a suite class</td><td>No, tests can be dynamically discovered and added</td></tr><tr><td>Test Configuration</td><td>Less flexible, uses @BeforeClass and @AfterClass</td><td>More flexible, uses @BeforeMethod, @AfterMethod, @BeforeTest, @AfterTest, etc.</td></tr><tr><td>Test Annotations</td><td>@Test, @BeforeClass, @AfterClass, @Before, @After</td><td>@Test, @BeforeMethod, @AfterMethod, @BeforeTest, @AfterTest, @BeforeClass, @AfterClass, and more</td></tr><tr><td>Configuration Files</td><td>Less flexible, uses testng.xml</td><td>More flexible, and uses testng.xml and other configuration options.</td></tr><tr><td>Error Handling</td><td>Less granular error handling</td><td>More granular error handling with features like soft assertions.</td></tr><tr><td>Test Retry</td><td>Not supported directly</td><td>Supported, allows failed tests to be retried a specified number of times.</td></tr><tr><td>Test Execution Listeners</td><td>Supported, but less flexible</td><td>Supported, with more granular control over test execution events.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<h2 id="h-why-is-junit-more-popular-than-testng">Why is JUnit More Popular than TestNG?</h2>



Junit is most often more popular than TestNG because of its history as one of the first Java testing frameworks. It is simple and easy to use and very highly integrable with widely used IDEs like <a href="https://www.javatpoint.com/intellij-vs-eclipse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA</a>. 



There are many tutorials available for this, and there is a very large community that supports an ecosystem of plugins and extensions.&nbsp;



The introduction of JUnit 5 has made it more interesting due to new features and flexibility. Besides JUnit 5 close association with the test-driven development (TDD) pattern enforces it as the de facto standard for <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/unit-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unit testing</a> in Java.



<h2 id="h-can-we-use-junit-and-testng-together">Can We Use JUnit and TestNG Together?</h2>



Even though it is not a common practice, you can use JUnit and TestNG together.



But they are chosen to be used together due to their complementary strengths and widespread adoption within the testing community. While JUnit is renowned for its simplicity and ease of use, TestNG offers advanced features like parameterized testing and parallel execution. Combining both frameworks allows developers to capitalize on the best of both worlds.



<h2 id="h-summary">Summary</h2>



In the comparison of JUnit and TestNG, JUnit is simple, old, and works greatly integrated with IDEs; hence, it is more commonly used for unit testing. On the other hand, TestNG offers advanced features like execution of tests in parallel and dependency testing that are oriented to a more complex test environment.&nbsp;



In the end, however, the choice between the two is an individual thing based on the project and its specific needs as well as the taste of the developer.



<h2 id="h-frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="h-junit-vs-testng-which-is-better">JUnit vs TestNG, which is better?</h3>



This question has no definitive solution because both TestNG and JUnit have advantages and disadvantages. Other additions include flexible <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-design/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test design</a>, data-driven test support, and improved reporting capabilities. On the other hand, JUnit is extensively used and has a large ecosystem of plugins and integrations.



<h3 id="h-what-is-the-main-difference-between-junit-and-testng">What is the main difference between JUnit and TestNG?</h3>



The primary distinction between JUnit and TestNG is their features and capabilities. Other additions include flexible test design, data-driven test support, and improved reporting capabilities. JUnit is extensively used and supported by a large ecosystem of plugins and integrations.



<h3 id="h-does-testng-use-junit">Does TestNG use JUnit?</h3>



No, TestNG is a different testing framework that does not use JUnit.



<h3 id="h-junit-vs-testng-what-are-the-advantages-of-testng">JUnit vs TestNG? What are the advantages of TestNG?</h3>



Support for <a href="https://testsigma.com/data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data-driven tests</a>, flexible test setup, richer reporting, and the ability to create dependencies between test methods and groups are all advantages of TestNG over JUnit. Talking about parallel test execution with JUnit Vs TestNG, TestNG also supports <a href="https://testsigma.com/parallel-test-runs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">parallel tests</a>, which can drastically reduce total test execution time.

JUnit vs TestNG: Comparing Two Popular Testing Frameworks

JUnit vs TestNG – Top 20 Core Differences

JavaScript is the most popular programming language. In recent days, many UI frameworks have been built with JavaScript-based NodeJS platforms such as React, Angular, Vue, etc. TypeScript also internally utilizes JavaScript, as TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript. There was a time NUnit, XUnit, and JUnit testing frameworks were ruling the market. As JavaScript gained popularity, many testing frameworks emerged to support JavaScript/TypeScript-based applications. Let’s analyze the top three JavaScript Testing Frameworks: Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine.



Many browser-based automation testing frameworks, such as Cypress, Puppeteer, and Selenium JavaScript bindings, rely on these frameworks internally. Before that, let’s discuss why unit testing is essential for JavaScript applications.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_JavaScript_Testing_Framework">1 What is JavaScript Testing Framework?</a></li><li><a href="#Types_of_Testing">2 Types of Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Why_do_we_need_Unit_Testing_for_JavaScript_applications">3 Why do we need Unit Testing for JavaScript applications?</a></li><li><a href="#Jest_vs_Mocha_vs_Jasmine_Why_compare_them">4 Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Why compare them?</a><ul><li><a href="#Jest_Mocha_and_Jasmines_initial_release_dates">4.1 Jest, Mocha, and Jasmine’s initial release dates</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Jest_JavaScript_Testing_Framework">5 Jest JavaScript Testing Framework</a><ul><li><a href="#Jest_Data_on_NPM_and_GitHub">5.1 Jest Data on NPM and GitHub</a></li><li><a href="#Advantages_of_Jest_JavaScript_Testing_Framework">5.2 Advantages of Jest JavaScript Testing Framework</a></li><li><a href="#Limitations_of_Jest_Framework">5.3 Limitations of Jest Framework</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Mocha_JavaScript_Testing_Framework">6 Mocha JavaScript Testing Framework</a><ul><li><a href="#Mocha_Trends_on_NPM_and_GitHub">6.1 Mocha Trends on NPM and GitHub</a></li><li><a href="#Advantages_of_Mocha_Testing_Framework">6.2 Advantages of Mocha Testing Framework</a></li><li><a href="#Limitations_of_Mocha_Framework">6.3 Limitations of Mocha Framework</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Jasmine_JavaScript_Testing_Framework">7 Jasmine JavaScript Testing Framework</a><ul><li><a href="#Jasmine_Facts_on_NPM_and_GitHub">7.1 Jasmine Facts on NPM and GitHub </a></li><li><a href="#Advantages_of_Jasmine_JavaScript_Framework">7.2 Advantages of Jasmine JavaScript Framework</a></li><li><a href="#Limitations_of_Jasmine">7.3 Limitations of Jasmine</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Jest_vs_Mocha_vs_Jasmine_Which_one_to_choose">8 Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Which one to choose?</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="a45ef">What is JavaScript Testing Framework?</h2>



The JavaScript testing framework is a testing library, which supports testing front-end applications by providing assertions, code coverage, mocking, etc., and ensures the correctness of the developed feature.



<h2 id="db24o">Types of Testing</h2>



Software application testing can be broadly categorized into two levels:



<ul><li>End-to-End Testing: This is browser-based testing, in a layman&#8217;s term simulation of user-based scenarios. This requires launching the browser, simulating user actions, and validating them. Tools such as Cypress, WebdriverIO, and Puppeteer are examples. Generally, end-to-end testing tools provide the simulation feature to verify the outcome of the use cases; it depends on test libraries such as Mocha, Jest or Jasmine, etc.</li><li>Unit Testing: This generally doesn’t require browsers to run the test; individual components will be tested against the requirements. The test libraries, such as Jest, Mocha, and Jasmine, are configured to run the unit tests. Whenever there are new features or bug fixes, the developer should ensure that unit testing is in place.</li></ul>



Jest, Mocha, and Jasmine have gained popularity as they are necessary for unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing. Its scope is not limited to JavaScript; it supports TypeScript as well.



<h2 id="8g97t">Why do we need Unit Testing for JavaScript applications?</h2>



The modern software development architecture recommends TDD (Test Driven Development) or BDD (Behavior Driven Development) as the mandatory practice while application development, as it has many advantages and helps to deliver a quality product. Below are some common benefits of unit testing:



<ul><li>Early detection of bugs: Unit testing is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to prevent bugs. Unit testing checks the logic at the component level, ensuring that the component is working as expected.</li><li>Early detection of regressions: When the developer changes the code to fix the bug or add a new feature, the unit test reports the failure, which helps in the early detection of the bugs.</li><li>Saves cost: Any bug caught later in development is costlier, as it has to go through multiple processes, and a lot of effort is involved. When there is an effort, there is a cost. Since unit testing helps in the early detection of bugs, it saves many expenses in the long run.</li><li>Defect prevention: Well-written unit tests can prevent the defect, as the test fails instantly, preventing the unintended modification of code.</li><li>Quality gate: Unit testing serves as a quality gate, as the percentage of code coverage can be measured and set the quality gate as per the requirement. The code merge fails instantly if the coverage is below the required limit.</li></ul>



Let’s compare the three testing JavaScript frameworks: Jest vs Jasmine vs Mocha.



<h2 id="4v96l">Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Why compare them?</h2>



These three frameworks have existed for a long time and are quite popular in the market. Whenever the question arises about the best among these three, the answer is always debatable. However, by analyzing their features, limitations, and trends in the market, we should be able to conclude which is the best framework. All three frameworks were released a decade back.



<h3 id="e0de2">Jest, Mocha, and Jasmine’s initial release dates</h3>



<ul><li>Jasmine&#8217;s Initial release was on September 14, 2010</li><li>Jest was created in 2011, and it was made open-source in 2014</li><li>Mocha&#8217;s initial release was on 22 November 2011</li></ul>



These three frameworks perform well even after a decade, so it&#8217;s worth exploring and comparing them. This article compares them in an unbiased way.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://images.storychief.com/account_36412/image_128385a6a120ee1d172f9b09c10c50e9_800.png" alt="jest rankings"/><figcaption>Source: Testing experience ranking<gwmw style="display:none;"></figcaption></figure>



The above image shows the satisfaction ranking of testing libraries. Jest is in the Top 3, Mocha is in the Top 8, and Jasmine is in the Top 10. This ranking is a comparison of all JavaScript testing frameworks, both unit and end-to-end testing frameworks. As mentioned earlier, some end-to-end testing framework uses one of these libraries, for example, Cypress internally uses Mocha/Chai libraries. The above ranking can be used as a reference but not for a conclusion unless you evaluate the features against your organization&#8217;s requirements.



<h2 id="cf2j3">Jest JavaScript Testing Framework</h2>



Jest is an open-source JavaScript testing framework managed by Facebook, Inc. It supports different types of front-end projects such as Babel, TypeScript, <a href="https://fireart.studio/trusted-node-js-development-company/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Node</a>, React, Angular, Vue, etc. Jest was built for the Facebook chat feature and was created in JavaScript. The framework is enhanced to support many core features and open source. The Meta (formerly Facebook) open-source project was maintaining the Jest framework, but Meta has decided to hand over Jest to the OpenJS foundation.



<h3 id="2bepo">Jest Data on <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/jest">NPM </a>and GitHub</h3>



<ul><li>Weekly Downloads: 17,153,924</li><li>Used by: 6.4M</li><li>Contributors: 1,387</li><li>Forks: 6K</li><li>Star: 40.1K</li><li>License: MIT</li></ul>



<h3 id="dnlnf">Advantages of Jest JavaScript Testing Framework</h3>



<ul><li>Zero config setup. Jest is easy to set up. Install the Jest package using npm or Yarn and start writing the test.</li><li>Jest test execution is comparatively faster; parallel testing makes it even faster.</li><li>Jest framework provides an easy mocking feature with rich mock functions; you just need to import and start spying on functions.</li><li>Rich assertions make Jest provide the accurate results.</li><li>Detailed documentation lists every feature with examples, which helps anyone to understand and resolve the problem.</li><li>Snapshot testing or Visual testing is another key feature of the Jest framework. The Snapshot testing helps validate UI bugs, for example, layout, typography, alignment, etc.</li><li>Easy to debug and resolve the failures.</li><li>Some of the critical features of Jest include clear output, powerful developer tools, frequent releases, lightweight, etc.</li></ul>



Learn More: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/uncaught-typeerror-in-javascript/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uncaught Type Error in Javascript&nbsp;</a>



<h3 id="1pn6v">Limitations of Jest Framework</h3>



<ul><li>People who worked with other testing libraries may find it hard to learn Jest.</li><li>Jest is not supported by all IDE. If you are using the unsupported IDE, you might not get powerful features like IntelliSense, auto import, etc.</li><li>Compared to other similar libraries, Jest lacks the library and tooling support.</li><li>The auto mocking feature makes Jest slower.</li></ul>



<h2 id="3dqch">Mocha JavaScript Testing Framework</h2>



Mocha is an open-source JavaScript testing framework built by NodeJS. It is part of the OpenJS foundation. Mocha is consistently the first choice of developers for a long time. This framework always concentrates on core features and extensibility. To make the most out of Mocha and ensure effective testing of JavaScript applications, businesses can <a href="https://binary-studio.com/hire-node-js-developers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hire Node js developers</a> with expertise in Mocha.



<h3 id="6fdf8">Mocha Trends on <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/jest">NPM </a>and <a href="https://github.com/mochajs/mocha">GitHub</a></h3>



<ul><li>Weekly Downloads: 6,659,493</li><li>Used by: 1.7M</li><li>Contributors: 480</li><li>Forks: 3K</li><li>Star: 21.6K</li><li>License: MIT</li></ul>



<h3 id="8kbb">Advantages of Mocha Testing Framework</h3>



Mocha is a simple and flexible framework; it doesn&#8217;t come with assertion libraries you can use any assertions libraries. The Chai, Sinon, Express.js, and Should.js libraries are the most popular assertion libraries with Mocha. It can be used for both front-end and back-end testing. As it is flexible, Mocha can be configured to work on any project such as React, Angular, etc.



<ul><li>Mocha supports Test Driven Development (TDD) and Behavior Driving Development (BDD).</li><li>Mocha test runs serially, so results are always accurate.</li><li>Mocha tests can be set up to run test cases directly on the web browser.</li><li>It provides various ways to generate the test report; you can even choose to create custom reports.</li><li>It can be configured for synchronous or asynchronous testing.</li><li>Mocha provides a good number of plugins that helps to extend your framework.</li><li>Mocha highlights the slow running tests after the test run.</li><li>Mocha supports the retry failed tests feature, which helps to configure re-running the failed tests if tests are flaky.</li></ul>



<h3 id="40g24">Limitations of Mocha Framework</h3>



<ul><li>The developer needs to spend time configuring and setting up the Mocha framework.</li><li>Snapshot testing is not supported out of the box; you need to depend on external libraries.</li><li>Though it has good documentation, the search feature is not user-friendly.</li><li>As you have to integrate different frameworks for assertions, the test scripts can sometimes be confusing.</li><li>Mocha is falling behind in releasing new features and supporting developer tools nowadays.</li></ul>



<h2 id="hslu">Jasmine JavaScript Testing Framework</h2>



Initially released in September 2010, Jasmine is an open-source JavaScript framework that runs with NodeJS. It supports BDD development. Everything needed for testing is shipped as a single package in Jasmine. It has inbuilt assertions, so there is no need to configure external assertion libraries. Jasmine is an independent testing library. Jest and Mocha share the syntaxes and similarities with Jasmine. Jasmine existed even before Mocha and Jest, making it one of the oldest JavaScript testing frameworks.



<h3 id="d63ra">Jasmine Facts on <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/jasmine-core">NPM</a> and <a href="https://github.com/jasmine/jasmine">GitHub </a></h3>



<ul><li>Weekly Downloads: 4,278,068</li><li>Used by: 2.4M</li><li>Contributors: 218</li><li>Forks: 2.3K</li><li>Star: 15.4K</li><li>License: MIT</li></ul>



<h3 id="d8ndn">Advantages of Jasmine JavaScript Framework</h3>



Jasmine ships all the features out-of-the-box that are required for unit tests; you do not have to download any external libraries.



<ul><li>Jasmine can be used with any popular development framework.</li><li>Jasmine supports asynchronous testing.</li><li>Jasmine&#8217;s syntaxes are clear, and the tests are more readable.</li><li>Good community support is a big plus for Jasmine, as it has existed as a popular framework for a long time.</li><li>Jasmine provides good tool and extension support, which helps to customize and extend the framework.</li><li>Jasmine provides a variety of assertions; it is more readable and easier to use.</li></ul>



<h3 id="epkqs">Limitations of Jasmine</h3>



<ul><li>Jasmine provides everything out of the box, but the user has to spend time configuring them.</li><li>It has good documentation, but not documented in a user-friendly way.</li><li>Asynchronous testing is complex with Jasmine.</li></ul>



<h2 id="f7lfm">Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Which one to choose?</h2>



It&#8217;s tough to conclude which is better, as every framework has its pros and cons. The testing framework cannot be chosen based on trends, popularity, or usage. Several criteria need to be evaluated while choosing the testing framework, for example, the front-end development library, type of application, skillsets, etc. After assessing the organization and project requirements, the testing framework needs to be integrated.



If you consider the popularity, Jest is mostly popular with ReactJS and NextJS-based applications, and Jasmine is popular with Angular-based applications. The complex projects choose the Mocha testing framework as it provides a lot of flexibility. Having said that, no framework can be considered the best. However, if the framework fulfills your project and organization requirements, that is the best for you.



We know that unit testing is part of the application testing and resides at the lower level before integrating the components. The actual behavior can be tested only after integrating all the components by performing end-to-end testing. Like Unit testing tools, many tools provide end-to-end testing functionality. The common problem with testing tools is that though they use the same programming languages, their usage and configuration are different. So one needs to invest time and effort in learning them.



Interestingly, <a href="https://testsigma.com/why-choose-testsigma-for-continuous-testing">Testsigma </a>provides scriptless testing, so you don&#8217;t have to install any tool to perform end-to-end testing. Once you sign up, you can start writing your tests in plain English. Writing the tests in simple English feature encourages everyone to contribute to testing and eliminates <a href="https://testsigma.com/docs/getting-started/introduction-cloud/">setup </a>time and learning efforts.<gwmw style="display:none;">



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Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Top 3 JavaScript Testing Frameworks in 2022 cover

Jest vs Mocha vs Jasmine: Top 3 JavaScript Testing Frameworks

To understand the difference between the Selenium Standalone server and the Selenium server, we need to go back to the Selenium history. Released in 2002, Selenium is an open-source tool, shipped with Apache Open Source License 2.0. Since web technologies have undergone many changes, automation frameworks like Selenium also had to go through changes.&nbsp;



Interestingly Selenium is the most popular automation framework today as well. Selenium has survived because it is adopting the latest technology and architecture. Every time Selenium made a new release it ensured that the framework is aligned with the latest technology trends and architecture. 



Selenium framework is designed in such a way that programming language should not be a barrier to testers as it supports Java, JavaScript, Python, C#, etc.



Many are confused that WebDriver API is a Selenium, but WebDriver is one of its components. Selenium has multiple components such as Selenium IDE, Selenium Grid, Selenium WebDriver, etc. As Selenium is the most flexible automation framework, it provides support to local execution, remote execution, and recording of the scripts.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Difference_between_Selenium_Standalone_server_and_Selenium_server">1 Difference between Selenium Standalone server and Selenium server</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Selenium_Server">2 What is Selenium Server?</a></li><li><a href="#How_does_Selenium_RC_Selenium_Server_work">3 How does Selenium RC/ Selenium Server work?</a></li><li><a href="#Sample_Selenium_Server_RC_script">4 Sample Selenium Server RC script.</a></li><li><a href="#Why_is_Selenium_ServerSelenium_RC_deprecated">5 Why is Selenium Server/Selenium RC deprecated?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Selenium_Standalone_Server">6 What is Selenium Standalone Server?</a></li><li><a href="#When_to_Use_Selenium_Standalone_serverGrid">7 When to Use Selenium Standalone server/Grid</a></li><li><a href="#Challenges_with_Selenium">8 Challenges with Selenium</a><ul><li><a href="#Challenges_of_Selenium_and_other_Test_Automation_Framework">8.1 Challenges of Selenium and other Test Automation Framework</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Features_of_Testsigma">9 Features of Testsigma</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-difference-between-selenium-standalone-server-and-selenium-server">Difference between Selenium Standalone server and Selenium server</h2>



The current Selenium version is 4.x. As mentioned earlier, Selenium has undergone many changes whenever it is upgraded to a major version like 1.x, 2.x, etc. With Selenium 4.0, there is no such confusion between Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server. The only executable server jar available is Selenium Grid.&nbsp;



This article provides concrete and definite answers to the question: Difference between the Selenium Standalone server and the Selenium server.



<h2 id="h-what-is-selenium-server">What is Selenium Server?</h2>



<a href="https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/legacy/selenium_1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium RC</a> was the initial and core Selenium project even before Selenium WebDriver started. The Selenium RC is deprecated and no longer supported. But to understand the difference and arrive at a definite conclusion, you need to explore the history of Selenium Versions.



Let&#8217;s understand the components of Selenium RC.



Selenium Server



The Selenium Server in Selenium RC was responsible for the below set of actions



<ul><li>Launch the browser</li><li>Interpret and run the Selenium command passed from the test program (code)</li><li>Act as an HTTP proxy by intercepting and verifying the HTTP message passed between the browsers and the Application Under Test</li></ul>



Client libraries



Client libraries in Selenium were used as the interface between each programming language and the Selenium RC Server.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Selenium-RC-Architecture.jpg" alt="Selenium RCArchitecture" class="wp-image-21175" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Selenium RC Architecture</figcaption></figure></div>



<h2 id="h-how-does-selenium-rc-selenium-server-work">How does Selenium RC/ Selenium Server work?</h2>



The above Architecture&nbsp; diagram shows the working mechanism of the Selenium RC Server



<ul><li>Selenium Client Libraries communicate with the Server by passing the Selenium command for execution one by one</li><li>The server passes the Selenium command to the browser using Selenium Core</li><li>The browser executes the Selenium command</li></ul>



Since the Selenium Server is in context, it existed in Selenium RC, which was the initial version of Selenium. The Selenium Server was one of the key components in Selenium RC. It receives Selenium commands from the test program, interprets, and reports back to your program; the results of running those tests, and tests are then marked as pass or fail.



The Selenium Server was designed to receive the Selenese commands from your test script. The communication was done using the simple HTTP protocol, either GET or POST methods. This method enables support for multiple programming languages. Any programming language supporting HTTP calls can be used to communicate with the Selenium Server.



<h2 id="h-sample-selenium-server-rc-script">Sample Selenium Server RC script.</h2>



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;public class NewTest{



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; public void testNew() throws Exception {



Selenium Selenium = new DefaultSelenium(&#8220;localhost&#8221;, 4444, &#8220;firefox&#8221;, &#8220;https://google.com&#8221;)



Selenium.start



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.open(&#8220;/&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.type(&#8220;q&#8221;, &#8220;Testsigma&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.click(&#8220;btnG&#8221;);



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selenium.waitForPageToLoad(&#8220;30000&#8221;);&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; }



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}



The Selenium RC Server architecture was different from the latest Selenium, so the above code is comparatively different from today&#8217;s Selenium Code.



The DefaultSelenium was part of package com.thoughtworks.Selenium in Selenium RC which was used for Initialising the Selenium.



Selenium 2.x introduced the Selenium <a href="https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/legacy/selenium_2/upgrading/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WebDriver API</a>, which removed the complexity of the Selenium RC server. In Selenium RC, the Selenium Server was the mediator between the Selenese command and the browser. The WebDriver was built with new architecture, it does the job similar to Server (not the same); however, WebDriver is not a server. WebDriver makes use of native events to interact with a web page.



Before we explore about Selenium Standalone Server, let&#8217;s conclude the Selenium Server



<ul><li>The Selenium Server was part of the Selenium RC.</li><li>Selenium Server acts as the mediator between the Selenium commands and the browser.</li><li>Selenium Server communicates with the client using HTTP calls such as GET/POST.</li><li>The Selenium Server is deprecated; it is no longer available.</li><li>The Selenium WebDriver replaced the Selenium Server.</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-why-is-selenium-server-selenium-rc-deprecated">Why is Selenium Server/Selenium RC deprecated?</h2>



The Selenium Server/RC had limitations, so the Selenium team decided to introduce a WebDriver and bring the changes to the architectural level.&nbsp;



Some of the challenges with Selenium Server/RC:



<ol><li>Selenium RC architecture was complex.</li><li>Selenium Server needed to start before test execution.</li><li>Selenium RC doesn&#8217;t support headless mode.</li><li>Supporting multiple browsers for a long period was challenging.</li></ol>



Now, let&#8217;s learn about Selenium Standalone Server.



<h2 id="h-what-is-selenium-standalone-server">What is Selenium Standalone Server?</h2>



The Selenium Standalone Server is what you see as a Selenium Grid today. But you may be wondering: Why do we still need a Selenium Standalone Server when Selenium Server was replaced with WebDriver in Selenium 2?



Replacing Selenium Server with Selenium WebDriver solved the problem of local execution. Using WebDriver, you do not need to start the Selenium Server as WebDriver communicates to the browser directly without starting the <a href="https://www.redswitches.com/dedicated-server-hosting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dedicated server</a>. However, there are some use cases where you need to use the server. Some common scenarios are



<ol><li>If you want to Execute your test on the remote machine</li><li>If you want to distribute tests across the multiple machines</li></ol>



Earlier, the Selenium was shipped with a standalone server, though it was optional. The Selenium Standalone server had the format of <a href="https://selenium-release.storage.googleapis.com/index.html?path=2.39/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium-server-standalone-{version}.jar</a>.&nbsp;



The Selenium 4.0 doesn&#8217;t follow the above format; it follows the format of Selenium-server-{version}.jar. The Selenium Standalone server is optional. You need to use the Selenium Standalone server or Selenium Grid only when you have the above use cases.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Selenium-Grid-Architecture-in-Selenium-4-Grid4.jpg" alt="Selenium Grid Architecture in Selenium" class="wp-image-21170" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Image: Selenium Grid Architecture in Selenium 4 (Grid4)</figcaption></figure></div>



Not to confuse other sources on the internet, the Selenium Grid has undergone many changes over the versions. For example, the Selenium Grid 2 and 3 had different architecture than the Selenium 4 Grid.



The Selenium Grid 3 had Hub and Node architecture, where the hub was a central system to communicate with the Nodes. The Node was the system where the actual browser runs.



The Selenium 4 Standalone Server or simply Selenium Server (in Selenium 4)&nbsp; has the above architecture.



Router: Entry point of Grid, receives all external requests and forwards to Node with the help of Session map and Session Queue.



Distributor: It keeps all the Node details,&nbsp; such as a list of browsers, available node slots, etc.



Node: Node is the place where the actual browser exists. Each grid can have multiple Nodes. The distributor will have every Node&#8217;s information along with its capabilities. The Node&#8217;s responsibility is just to execute the commands. It doesn’t make any judgments; it simply executes the command received.



<h2 id="h-when-to-use-selenium-standalone-server-grid">When to Use Selenium Standalone server/Grid</h2>



<ul><li>To run the cross-browser and/or cross-platform tests parallely</li><li>To execute the tests faster in distributed test execution environment</li></ul>



The confusion between the Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server arises because of Selenium RC or an older version of Selenium 4. Considering Selenium 4, there is only one Selenium Server available which is Selenium Grid Server.



Example of Selenium Code using Selenium Grid:



ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();



options.setCapability(CapabilityType.BROWSER_NAME,&#8221;chrome&#8221;)&nbsp;&nbsp;



RemoteWebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(&#8220;http://localhost:4444&#8221;), options);



driver.get(&#8220;https://google.com&#8221;);



driver.close();



To Summarise 



<ul><li>Selenium Server and Selenium Standalone server are different; each is designed to serve a different purpose.</li><li>Selenium Server was part of Selenium RC, which is now deprecated.</li><li>Selenium WebDriver is a replacement for Selenium RC Server with better and faster execution of tests.</li><li>The primary purpose of Selenium Standalone Server / Selenium Grid is to execute the tests in a distributed environment parallelly.</li><li>The Selenium Grid/Selenium Standalone server is still available for use with the latest version of Selenium 4.</li><li>The Selenium Grid /Selenium Standalone server is optional and can be chosen based on the requirement and purpose.</li></ul>



<h2 id="h-challenges-with-selenium">Challenges with Selenium</h2>



Though Selenium is the most popular automation framework, it requires a deep level of technical expertise. Today, there are many test automation frameworks such as Playwright, Cypress, TestCafe, WebDriverIO, etc. One of the major challenges that you and your organization face is skillset. You&#8217;ll have to learn a new API and architecture whenever you switch to a new testing framework.



<h3 id="challenges-of-selenium-and-other-test-automation-framework">Challenges of Selenium and other Test Automation Framework</h3>



<ul><li>The learning curve for every framework is considerably high.</li><li>Complicated setup, requiring a good amount of technical expertise.</li><li>Setting up a framework from scratch is different.</li><li>Testing in a cross-browser and cross-platform environment requires robust infrastructure. Maintaining the infrastructure is complicated.</li><li>Not all frameworks support multi-level testing such as API Testing, UI Testing (Visual Testing), and end-to-end Testing.</li><li>Manual Testers need to put high effort into learning automation.</li><li>Reporting and DevOps integrations are additional complications.</li><li>Whenever there is an upgrade of your tool version you need to learn and upskill. Breaking changes in the latest version may cause false failures, which in turn requires high maintenance.</li></ul>



With all these difficulties, achieving a quality product is a nightmare. Well, Testsigma addresses all these pain points. Imagine writing the test case in plain English, which executes like a charm. Testsigma is an Gen AI-powered test platform that allows you to write tests in simple English. 



Unlike Selenium, Testsigma doesn&#8217;t require any complicated setup or infrastructure management. The tests can be recorded, or you can even write your own; same tests can be executed on 800+ browsers.



<h2 id="h-features-of-testsigma">Features of Testsigma</h2>



<ul><li>Ability to record the tests or write your tests.</li><li>No coding knowledge is required, and tests can be written in plain English language.</li><li>Manual testers can quickly learn and upgrade themselves to the automation world.</li><li>Feature to Test on Mobile devices without complicated setup.</li><li>No need to maintain infrastructure; Testsigma takes care of that.</li><li>Supports multiple types of tests such as API Tests, End to End tests, and Visual Tests.</li><li>Supports all major DevOps tools.</li><li>Faster execution and instant reports and analytics,</li></ul>



In addition, Testsigma has a community-driven plugin marketplace where you can easily hook any plugins to your test.&nbsp;



Comparing Selenium and Testsigma, Testsigma can save a lot of time and effort. Selenium testers mostly spend time setting up, configuring, and debugging issues by losing the main focus of writing the automation scripts. Testsigma, on the other hand, takes all those burdens and complications of configuration and setup, enabling testers to focus on their automation script and execution happily.

Selenium Standalone Server vs Selenium Server [Updated]

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