AVA is a minimalistic and futuristic test runner for Node.js with a focus on simplicity and performance. It provides a concise and elegant syntax for writing tests, making it easy to create clear and readable test cases. AVA runs tests concurrently, which speeds up the test execution process significantly, especially on multi-core processors. It also offers built-in support for ES modules, TypeScript, and async/await, enhancing the developer experience.
Jasmine Core is a behavior-driven development (BDD) testing framework for JavaScript. It provides a clean and intuitive syntax for writing tests, making it easy to define test suites and expectations. Jasmine Core is known for its simplicity and readability, allowing developers to focus on writing clear and concise test cases.
Both Ava and Jasmine have a significant user base and are widely used in the JavaScript community. Jasmine has been around for longer and has established a strong presence, while Ava has gained popularity in recent years due to its async testing capabilities.
Testing Style
Jasmine follows a Behavior Driven Development (BDD) testing style, providing a more expressive syntax for test cases. Ava, on the other hand, adopts a more minimalist and straightforward approach to testing.
Syntax
Jasmine uses a declarative syntax with functions such as 'describe', 'it', and 'expect' to structure test suites and assertions. Ava uses ES2017 async/await syntax for writing test cases, making it easier to handle asynchronous code.
Concurrency
Ava is known for its concurrent test execution, which allows test cases to run in parallel by default, resulting in faster test execution times. Jasmine runs tests serially and does not have built-in support for parallel execution.
Configuration
Jasmine is easy to set up and configure with minimal configuration required. Ava is also easy to configure, but it offers more customization options such as configuring test retries, environment variables, and parallel test settings.
Integration
Both Ava and Jasmine can be integrated with various build tools and frameworks. However, Jasmine has stronger integration with popular JavaScript frameworks like Angular, while Ava is more flexible and can be easily integrated into different environments and testing frameworks.
Community and Ecosystem
Jasmine has a larger community and a well-established ecosystem with a wide range of plugins and extensions available. Ava has a smaller but growing community, and its ecosystem is expanding with new plugins being developed.
Documentation
Both Ava and Jasmine have comprehensive documentation, but Jasmine's documentation is more extensive and covers a wider range of topics, making it easier to learn and troubleshoot. Ava's documentation is concise but provides enough information to get started quickly.