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Azure DevOps vs Jest: What are the differences?
Introduction:
Azure DevOps and Jest are two widely used tools in the software development industry. While Azure DevOps is a comprehensive set of development tools provided by Microsoft, Jest is a JavaScript testing framework developed by Facebook. Despite serving different purposes, there are several key differences between the two tools that developers should be aware of.
1. Development Tools vs. Testing Framework: The primary difference between Azure DevOps and Jest lies in their core functionalities. Azure DevOps is a complete set of development tools that covers various aspects of the development lifecycle, including planning, development, testing, deployment, and monitoring. On the other hand, Jest is specifically designed as a JavaScript testing framework, focused solely on providing developers with an efficient and intuitive way to write and execute tests for JavaScript code.
2. Integrated Development Environment vs. Test Runner: Another significant difference between Azure DevOps and Jest is their respective roles in the development workflow. Azure DevOps provides a complete Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that incorporates numerous features such as code version control, project management, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and more. In contrast, Jest functions primarily as a test runner that enables developers to write and execute tests, generate test coverage reports, and perform snapshot testing, among other testing-related tasks.
3. Cloud-Based vs. Local Environment: Azure DevOps is a cloud-based solution, providing developers with the flexibility of accessing their development environment and related tools from anywhere with an internet connection. It offers various cloud services like Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, and Azure Boards. On the other hand, Jest is typically used in a local development environment, where developers run tests locally on their machines and take advantage of its built-in features like test mocking, code coverage analysis, and parallel test execution.
4. Multi-Platform vs. JavaScript-Specific: Azure DevOps supports multiple programming languages and platforms, including but not limited to .NET, Java, Python, and Node.js. It provides a wide range of tools and services that cater to developers working with different technologies. In contrast, Jest is primarily focused on JavaScript development and provides specific features and functionalities tailored for JavaScript testing. It is widely used in the React ecosystem but can be used for testing any JavaScript codebase.
5. Integration With CI/CD Pipelines vs. Standalone Usage: One of the key highlights of Azure DevOps is its seamless integration with CI/CD pipelines. It enables developers to automate the build, testing, and deployment processes, ensuring fast and reliable software releases. Developers can easily incorporate Azure DevOps into their existing CI/CD workflows, leveraging its extensive capabilities. On the other hand, Jest can be used as a standalone testing framework and does not come with built-in CI/CD integration. However, developers can integrate Jest with other CI/CD tools like Jenkins or GitLab to achieve continuous testing.
6. Enterprise-Level Support and Collaboration vs. Lightweight Testing Framework: Azure DevOps offers enterprise-level support and features that facilitate collaboration among development teams. It provides granular access control, project management tools, and team collaboration features like code reviews, work item tracking, and agile planning boards. Alternatively, Jest is a lightweight testing framework that focuses primarily on the testing aspect of software development. While it does offer features like mocking and snapshot testing, it lacks the comprehensive collaboration and project management capabilities provided by Azure DevOps.
In Summary, Azure DevOps is a comprehensive set of cloud-based development tools, offering IDE-like features and integration with CI/CD pipelines, while Jest is a JavaScript-specific testing framework with focus on ease of use and efficient testing.
As we all know testing is an important part of any application. To assist with our testing we are going to use both Cypress and Jest. We feel these tools complement each other and will help us get good coverage of our code. We will use Cypress for our end to end testing as we've found it quite user friendly. Jest will be used for our unit tests because we've seen how many larger companies use it with great success.
Postman will be used to do integration testing with the backend API we create. It offers a clean interface to create many requests, and you can even organize these requests into collections. It helps to test the backend API first to make sure it's working before using it in the front-end. Jest can also be used for testing and is already embedded into React. Not only does it offer unit testing support in javascript, it can also do snapshot testing for the front-end to make sure components are rendering correctly. Enzyme is complementary to Jest and offers more functions such as shallow rendering. UnitTest will be used for Python testing as it is simple, has a lot of functionality and already built in with python. Sentry will be used for keeping track of errors as it is also easily integratable with Heroku because they offer it as an add-on. LogDNA will be used for tracking logs which are not errors and is also a Heroku add-on. Its good to have a separate service to record logs, monitor, track and even fix errors in real-time so our application can run more smoothly.
Pros of Azure DevOps
- Complete and powerful56
- Huge extension ecosystem32
- Azure integration27
- Flexible and powerful26
- One Stop Shop For Build server, Project Mgt, CDCI26
- Everything I need. Simple and intuitive UI15
- Support Open Source13
- Integrations8
- GitHub Integration7
- One 4 all6
- Cost free for Stakeholders6
- Project Mgmt Features6
- Crap5
- Runs in the cloud5
- Agent On-Premise(Linux - Windows)3
- Aws integration2
- Link Test Cases to Stories2
- Jenkins Integration2
- GCP Integration1
Pros of Jest
- Open source36
- Mock by default makes testing much simpler32
- Testing React Native Apps23
- Parallel test running20
- Fast16
- Bundled with JSDOM to enable DOM testing13
- Mock by default screws up your classes, breaking tests8
- Out of the box code coverage7
- Promise support7
- One stop shop for unit testing6
- Great documentation3
- Assert Library Included2
- Built in watch option with interactive filtering menu1
- Preset support1
- Can be used for BDD0
- Karma0
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Cons of Azure DevOps
- Still dependant on C# for agents8
- Many in devops disregard MS altogether5
- Capacity across cross functional teams not visibile4
- Not a requirements management tool4
- Half Baked4
- Jack of all trades, master of none3
- Poor Jenkins integration3
- Tedious for test plan/case creation2
Cons of Jest
- Documentation4
- Ambiguous configuration4
- Difficult3
- Many bugs still not fixed months/years after reporting2
- Multiple error messages for same error2
- Difficult to run single test/describe/file2
- Ambiguous2
- Bugged2
- BeforeAll timing out makes all passing tests fail1
- Slow1
- Reporter is too general1
- Unstable1
- Bad docs1
- Still does't support .mjs files natively1
- Can't fail beforeAll to abort tests1
- Interaction with watch mode on terminal0
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