Java is one of the most popular programming languages across the globe, and it comes with a vast ecosystem. There are more than nine million Java developers worldwide, and undoubtedly, it will increase.
If you are a Java developer, then undoubtedly you need to focus on Java Testing Frameworks as that enables you to enhance your testing skills. Testing is one field that segregates a professional developer from amateur ones.
In this article, we will discuss several Java Testing Frameworks which you need to be familiar with within 2021. But, first, understand what a framework is.
What Is a Framework?
Java Frameworks are large bodies of pre-written codes to which you add your code to solve a specific problem. You need to make use of a framework by calling its inheritance, methods listeners, and supplying “callbacks” or other implementation of the observer pattern.
Java Testing Frameworks
Now, let’s have a look at some of the major Java testing frameworks.
Selenium
Selenium is an open-source and one of the most widely used and popular tools for UI testing. It allows you to test your JSP pages without launching them in a browser. You can test any website’s UI using Selenium, and it will enable you to write web application acceptance testing.
Selenium is a suite of many software; each caters to different testing needs for an organization. It has four components:
- WebDriver
- Selenium Grid
- Selenium Remote Control (RC)
- Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
TestNG
TestNG is a framework inspired by JUnit and NUnit. It introduced many functionalities that make it easier to use and powerful, such as; flexible test configuration, support of parameters, annotations, testing your code is multithread safe. TestNG requires JDK 7 or higher.
It is designed to cover all categories of tests, including functional, unit, end-to-end, integration, etc.
Mockito
Mockito is a mocking framework, a Java-based framework. It is used for effective unit testing for Java applications.
Mocking is a technique to test the functionality of a class in isolation. It does not require a database connection to test functionality. Mock objects do the mocking of a real device and return dummy data depending upon the dummy input passed to it.
While using mockito, you do not need to write a mock code on your own. It supports return value, exceptions, check on the order of method calls, creating mocks using annotations.
Mockito uses Java reflection to create mock objects of a given interface.
JUnit
JUnit is another testing framework in Java. It has been an essential framework and has a crucial role in test-driven development as you can write and run the unit test directly from the IDEs.
It promotes the idea of “first testing and then coding” that increases the stability of program code and productivity of the programmer.
Most of the programmers are using JUnit 4, and JUnit 5 is already released and probably the next thing to look in 2021. JUnit can be used for both unit and integration testing as it supports Java 8 features.
Spock Framework
Spock is created in 2008 by Peter Niederwieser, another testing and specification framework for Java and Groovy applications. Spock has a highly expressive specification language that makes it to the point language.
Spock is compatible with most of the IDEs, build tools, and integration servers all because of its JUnit runner. Unlike JUnit, Spock has its mocking and test double libraries as well as full support for parameterized test scenarios.
Cucumber
Cucumber is a testing tool that supports BDD (Behaviour Driven Development) framework. It’s a great tool for automated integration tests that are easily read and understood. But what makes it different from another tool is it defines application behavior using the simple English text, which is characterized by a language named – Gherkin.
It was initially implemented in Ruby and later on extended to the Java framework. It merges the specification and test documentation into one documentation, and as Cucumber will automatically test this documentation, the specifications made on your end stay up-to-date.
DBUnit
DBUnit is an extension of JUnit. It targets database-driven projects that put the database, among other things, into a known state between test runs. In this way, a lot of problems can be avoided when one test case corrupts the entire database, which causes failure to subsequent tests.
It has a unique ability to import and export the database from and to XML datasheets. In streaming mode, it can efficiently work with large data sets and also helps to verify the database data match as an expected set of data values.
Robot Framework
Robot Framework is an open-source framework for acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development. The Robot Framework is an operating system and an independent application. The core framework is implemented using Python and also runs on JVM and .NET.
It is a keyword-driven testing framework having easy to use tabular test data syntax. The test libraries implemented by Python or Java can increase the testing capabilities of the Robot Framework.
Spring MVC Test
Spring MVC Test is a robust testing framework providing support for testing Spring MVC controllers. It is built on the top of the servlet API mock objects provided by the spring-test module; it does not require any servlet container.
It uses the DispatcherServelt class that provides full support for the Spring MVC runtime behavior. Also, you can configure the system under test by using the web application context-based configuration or the standalone configuration.
The core items for testing are contained in the modules, which are called spring-boot-test, and the configuration is provided by the modules called spring-boot-test-autoconfigure.
Conclusion
That’s all about some of the Java Testing Frameworks for Java developers. There are many more testing frameworks available, but I have mentioned nine frameworks that they need to be familiar with in 2021. As you all know, Java is vast, and you need to keep yourself updated in this domain now and then.
If you are a beginner in the Java territory, you can also go for Java Certification training and master the web application development for any computing platform.
