List of Java Testing Frameworks and Tools:
In this tutorial, we will provide an overview of automated testing tools for JAVA/J2EE applications, specific to different components.
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Many of the popular Java tools for testing are open source and have their roots in JUnit. These tools vary depending on the view, business logic, and validation components.
This is the third and final article in our JAVA/J2EE testing series.
Check out the previous articles:
Part 1: A Guide to Testing Java Applications
Part 2: Getting Started with Automated Testing of JAVA Applications
Table of Contents:
- List of Top Java Automated Testing Tools
- JavaScript/JQuery/AngularJS (Validation for the view component)
- JSP (JAVA Server Pages – The View Component)
- JSF (JAVA Server Faces – The View Component)
- XML (Extensible Markup Language)
- Servlet, Bean, and JAVA Classes
- EJB (Enterprise JAVA Bean)
- SWING
- Java Functional Testing Tools
- JAVA Performance and Load Testing Tools
- Conclusion
List of Top Java Automated Testing Tools
Let’s dive in.
JavaScript/JQuery/AngularJS (Validation for the view component)
JavaScript/JQuery is commonly used to validate the view component, such as JSP or JSF.
Here are some important tools for testing JavaScript:
#1) JSUnit
JSUnit is an open-source Unit testing framework for JavaScript. If you’re familiar with JUnit, learning JSUnit will be easy as it is an extension of JUnit specifically for JavaScript testing. Although JSUnit is no longer supported, the developers of this framework have switched to the development of the Jasmine framework.
For more information, check out this page.
#2) Jasmine
Jasmine is an open-source Unit Testing framework for JavaScript. It is based on other unit testing frameworks like RSpec, JSpec, JSSpect, and Screwunit. Jasmine follows the BDD (Behavior Driven Development) approach for testing JavaScript and is particularly popular for testing AngularJS applications.
Jasmine uses two main blocks – the describe block and the it block. The describe block groups test cases with similar functionality, while the it block contains individual test cases. For more details, refer to this page.
Testing with Jasmine can be straightforward, as the test cases are written in a way that resembles English sentences.
Here’s a sample:
JavaScript Function:
function sayHi() {
return "Hi!";
}
A Jasmine test case would look like this:
describe("Say Hi", function() {
it("should return hi", function() {
expect(sayHi()).toEqual("Hi!");
});
});
#3) Karma
Karma is primarily a Unit Testing tool for Angular JS applications (Angular JS is a JavaScript framework maintained by Google). Karma is maintained by the Angular JS team at Google. It runs test cases defined in the configuration file karma.conf.js and displays the results in the command prompt.
For more information, visit this page.
#4) Qunit
Qunit is a JQuery Unit testing framework developed by the JQuery team. While primarily designed for testing JQuery code, QUnit can also be used to test regular JavaScript code. QUnit is easy to understand, and the test results are displayed in a user-friendly format. For more information, check here.
There are several other Unit testing tools for JavaScript, including FireUnit, RhinoUnit, TestSwarm, BrowserSwarm, Mocha, Chai, and Sinon.
JSP (JAVA Server Pages – The View Component)
When run, JSP is converted into a Servlet, which is a Java class. JUnit can be used to test JSPs, but from a design perspective, JSPs typically don’t contain much Java code if frameworks are used.
Therefore, it’s preferable to cover JSPs in functional or integration testing, though unit testing can also be performed. Since JSPs are tightly coupled with the servlet container, separate testing requires simulating request and response behavior. TagUnit can be used to test the taglibs within JSP Pages. See the list of frameworks for testing JSPs below.
#5) TagUnit
JSP tags are elements that help in modularizing and reusing components in JSP. Tag functionality is typically written in Java classes and can be used within JSPs like any other tag.
Direct testing of tags using JUnit is not possible since tag classes are called only when a JSP is converted to a Servlet. For more information, check here.
Here’s a sample built-in code tag:
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c" %>
<html>
<head>
<title </title>
</head>
<body>
<c:forEach var="countvar" begin="1" end="4">
Count <c:out value="${countvar}"/>
</c:forEach>
</body>
</html>
TagUnit provides a screen to display results. It first checks if the tags have relevant handlers and getter/setter methods. Below is a sample TagUnit test case:
<tagunit:assertEquals name="Count">
<tagunit:actualResult> <c:forEach var="countvar" items="1,2,3,4"> <c:out value="${countvar}"/></c:forEach> </tagunit:actualResult>
<tagunit:expectedResult>1234</tagunit:expectedResult>
</tagunit:assertEquals>
#6) Tagit is another useful tool for testing JavaScript, JQuery, and JSP Custom tags.
For more information, check here.
#7) Cactus was another Unit testing framework for testing Servlets, EJBs, and JSP tags. However, it has been retired and is no longer supported.
#8) Selenium WebDriver is an open-source testing tool for web applications. WebDriver simulates user actions on the web and can be used with different browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, and others. Visit the official Selenium WebDriver page for more details.
Also read: For more about WebDriver, check out our article here.
#9) JSPUnit is an extension of JUnit for Unit testing JSPs.
For more information, check here.
#10) HTMLUnit is an open-source library and headless browser. It emulates browser behavior and is extensively used for integration testing. JSPs are designed to run inside the web container and are converted to Servlets when the web server runs. HTMLUnit can be used to test the view part without the need for a container.
For testing, JSPs are manually converted to Servlet classes using Jasper. Without the container, request and response behavior needs to be simulated. This is achieved by creating mock objects of JSPWriter, PageContext, HttpServletRequest, and HttpServletResponse. For more information, check here.
JSF (JAVA Server Faces – The View Component)
JSF is a web-based framework for UI (User Interface) development. UI components can be easily created using a set of reusable components. Like Struts, JSF is an MVC-based framework that includes Servlets, XML, Beans, and JSF Tags.
Recommended reading: JSF Interview Questions and Answers
#11) JSFUnit from the JBoss community is a powerful tool for both Unit testing and Integration testing. It can test both the view component and the server-side component. Apart from testing user screen navigation, JSFUnit can also be used to test the bean and servlet components of the framework.
For more information, check here.
#12) HTMLUnit is extensively used for integration testing of applications developed with the JSF framework. For more information, check here.
JUnit can also be used to test Java classes in the JSF framework. Tools like FacesTester can be used for out-of-container unit testing of JSF-based applications. Apache MyFaces, which maintains the Java Server Faces implementation, also provides a test framework for JSF.
XML (Extensible Markup Language)
#13) XMLUnit is an extension of JUnit that performs XML structure validations and content comparisons between actual and expected XML. For more information, check here.
Servlet, Bean, and JAVA Classes
(JAVA Classes for Controller and Business Logic)
#14) Servlets are Java classes that run on a web or application server and handle requests and responses from the view component (JSP/JSF). Beans are Java classes that encapsulate multiple objects into one and passed around to other classes or components.
Multiple other Java classes are used in an application, some connecting to a database and others containing business logic.
#15) JUnit is one of the most popular frameworks for Unit testing Java classes.
For detailed information on JUnit, refer to our articles here.
#16) Arquillian is a powerful tool for Integration and Functional testing of Java middleware. It is commonly used with the Maven build tool and on top of Unit Testing frameworks such as JUnit and TestNG. Arquillian eliminates the need for creating mock objects. It can be used to test JSF, EJB, Servlets, and other Java classes.
For more information, check here.
#17) ServletUnit is a framework specifically for testing Servlets by creating request and response objects. If a Servlet contains only simple code, Unit testing can be performed with JUnit. However, for complex applications that need simulated Servlet container testing, ServletUnit can be used.
For more information, check here.
#18) Mock objects are primarily used for Unit Testing. They help in testing the interactions between objects in an application. If an object depends on other objects, mocking the dependency allows testing each object in detail and isolation, without the need to create real objects.
Popular mock frameworks include Mockito, JMock, JMockit, EasyMock, and PowerMock.
EJB (Enterprise JAVA Bean)
EJBs are Java components in an application that typically contain business logic. For EJB-based projects, JUnitEE can be used, although JUnit remains a popular choice.
#19) JUnitEE is an extension of JUnit that runs directly within the same application server as the project. JUnitEE provides three Servlets that call regular JUnit test cases.
For more information, check here or here.
SWING
Swing is a set of libraries in Java used to create rich graphical user interfaces. UISpec4J, Abbot, Fest, and QF-Test are some of the most popular Unit testing frameworks for Swing-based applications.
Recommended Reading: Java Swing Tutorial
Java Functional Testing Tools
#20) HTTPUnit is a Functional testing framework based on JUnit, although it can also be used for Unit Testing. It emulates browser behavior such as form submission, page redirection, JS validation, and cookie management. HTTPUnit simulates browser’s GET and POST requests.
For more information, check here.
#21) JWebUnit is a Java-based framework preferred for Functional, Regression, and Integration testing. It wraps existing frameworks such as Selenium and HTMLUnit to provide a simple interface for writing test cases. JWebUnit is useful for testing screen navigation.
For more information, check here.
#22) TestNG is a powerful Java-based testing framework for Unit, Integration, and Functional testing. It is based on JUnit and is considered a strong competitor to JUnit.
For more information, check here.
#23) Selenium WebDriver, as mentioned earlier, is another popular Functional and Integration testing tool.
#24) WATIR (Web Application Testing in Ruby) is a powerful web application testing tool developed in Ruby. It requires testers to have knowledge of the Ruby language, as the functions for browser testing are written in Ruby.
The two main projects are Watir-classic and Watir-Webdriver. Watir-classic can drive a web browser automatically, unlike other tools that only simulate a browser. Watir-Webdriver is derived from Selenium WebDriver and serves as a wrapper on top of it.
For more information, check here.
JAVA Performance and Load Testing Tools
#25) Apache JMeter is an open-source tool for Load and Performance testing. If a website needs to be tested for performance, JMeter sends multiple requests, collects responses, and performs statistical calculations to display results in graphical form. For more details, check here.
Other good tools for performance and load testing include HP LoadRunner, WAPT, NetBeans profiler, GC Viewer, Patty open-source project, and the list of tools provided here for JAVA-based web applications.
Conclusion
In this article, we have covered some of the most popular component-wise testing tools available for J2EE applications. These tools can be used together based on the components involved in your applications.
Further reading: Check out our article on the latest automated unit testing tools for more options.
Let us know your favorite tool for automation testing of JAVA-based applications.