Unit testing with JavaScript and NodeJS

Oct 6, 2011

In my latest project I needed a way to execute JavaScript from the command line. I knew a little about the Rhino project which achieves this and of course the Google V8 Project.

I experimented a little with V8 and the default shell sample application that it ships with. I found it easy to introduce native functionality using C++ and this seemed to perform well. I then discovered the nodejs project. nodejs is built on top of V8 and includes lots of general purpose functionality which is great for running JavaScript from the command line and fantastic for developing server applications.

Instead of reinventing the wheel with my custom V8 shell I decided to use nodejs. nodejs has an excellent module system which makes it easy to add new functionality.

Unit testing is important because it helps us to develop code of a high quality. I tend to use QUnit from the jQuery project to perform unit testing on client JavaScripts. Whilst QUnit may not be the most comprehensive unit testing library, it is very easy to use and provides detailed output.

I now need to be able to create unit tests for command line tools and server scripts and unfortunately the regular QUnit framework cannot be used directly since it uses the DOM to report feedback. Fortunately the node-qunit module can be added to nodejs which adds support for QUnit style unit testing.

Whilst there are notable differences between the way in which these two QUnit variants behave, it is possible to write unit tests that are compatible with both versions. For example, QUnit.module should be used instead of module because module means something different in nodejs.