tape-vs-mocha.md

Tape vs Mocha

What is Mocha? Mocha is a feature-rich JavaScript test framework running on Node.js and in the browser.

What is Tape? Tape is a tap-producing test harness for node and browsers

Comparision

Features

Feature	Tape	Mocha
Assertion	Built-in Ifs	Agnostic (Chai/Jasmine)
Reporters	Tap, Spec, JSON, XUNIT	Tap, Spec, JSON, XUNIT
Browser	Yes	Yes
Parallel Exec	Monkey patch	Yes
Before/After	Monkey patch	Yes
Tooling	-	Wallaby.js, Webstorm, Atom
Promise	NA	Yes
Diffs	Req Module	Yes
Test Suite Org	No	Yes
Code COV	Yes, Istabul	Yes, Istabul

Popularity

Examples

Tape

import test from 'tape';

test('It should be equal', (asset) => {
  asset.equal(1, 1, 'these two numbers are equal');
  asset.end();
});

Mocha

var assert = require('chai').assert;

describe('Test Suite - Demo', () => {
  it('It should be equal', () => {
    assert.equal(1, 1);
  })
})

Review

Tape is very simple runner that produces TAP output ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Anything_Protocol ). It lacks many advanced features and editor tooling but wins in terms of simplicity. Many of the features it lacks can be hacked via monkey patching or third-party modules. Tape is geared mostly towards Node testing.

Mocha is a feature-rich test runner that is very popular. It comes out of the box with most features required for advanced testing. Its popularity has driven vendors to write editor tooling as first-class citizens. Mocha is widely adopted on both frontend, backend and qa testing frameworks.

References

• https://medium.com/javascript-scene/why-i-use-tape-instead-of-mocha-so-should-you-6aa105d8eaf4
• https://remysharp.com/2015/12/14/my-node-test-strategy