Shoulda.js

Shoulda.js is a JavaScript unit testing micro framework. It provides syntax for writing concise, readable tests. It makes no assumptions about your JavaScript environment or libraries. At about 280 lines of code, it's easy to understand and modify. It's been in use since 2010.

This was created this for those who want to write unit tests, but who don't want to pull in large dependencies with functionality beyond what they need. For example, as of Nov 2023:

Lib	Source files	Lines of code
Shoulda.js	1	250
Jest	539	52,096
Mocha	77	8,206
Jasmine	130	8,902

Where the metrics "source files" and "lines of code" exclude comments, documentation, and tests.

Example usage

In Shoulda.js, tests are grouped into related units called contexts. Contexts can optionally include setup code which is run before every test within that context.

Usage in Deno:

import * as shoulda from "https://deno.land/x/shoulda/shoulda.js";
const { assert, context, setup, should, teardown } = shoulda;

context("Super mario", () => {
  let game;

  setup(() => {
    game = new MarioGame();
  });

  context("enemy interaction", () => {
    let enemy;

    setup(() => {
      enemy = game.addEnemy({ x: 10, y: 0 });
    });

    should("kill the enemy after jumping on it", () => {
      game.mario.jump({ x: 10, y: 0 });
      assert.equal("dead", enemy.state);
    });

    should("end the game if mario walks into an enemy", () => {
      game.mario.move({ x: 10, y: 0 });
      assert.equal("gameOver", game.state);
    });
  });
});

await shoulda.run();

Usage in Node.js:

npm install --save-dev shoulda.js

const shoulda = require("shoulda.js");
...

Usage in the browser:

import * as shoulda from "./shoulda.js";
...

Assertions

These assertions are available on assert:

• isTrue
• isFalse
• equal
• throwsError(fn, errorName)
• fail

Stubs

Stubbing allows you to temporarily redefine functions on objects for the duration of your test. This is commonly used to do things like replace a network call and hard-code its return value. The syntax is:

const fakeElement = { id: "abc" };
// returns(v) creates a function which, when called, returns `v`.
shoulda.stub(document, "getElementById", returns(fakeElement));

How to stub a property:

shoulda.stub(window.location, "href", "http://example.com");

Tips

• Calling shoulda.run() with a String argument will only run a subset of the tests: shoulda.run("enemy interaction")

• Alternatively, you can use should.only or context.only when defining tests. When one or more tests are defined using should.only, shoulda.run() will run only those tests.

Changelog

• v2.0 (2023-10-30)
  • Update the test syntax to use closures rather than arrays. This allows for more flexibility, is easier for code editors to indent, and matches the syntax used by most JS testing libraries.
  • In test failure output, print complex objects on separate lines to improve readability.
  • Add "should.only" and "context.only" for programmatically limiting which tests will be run.
• v1.0 (2013-03-02)

License

Licensed under the MIT license.