CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptangularjsunit-testingprotractorkarma-jasmine
DDan
DDan

Reputation: 8276

Karma vs Protractor, Unit test vs. e2e test

Could someone explain to me why I need both Protractor and Karma. At a quick glance it seems to me that they are doing the same thing. I understand Karma is for unit tests and Protractor is for e2e test.

I understand both can use (and in most examples using) Jasmine framework to describe the tests.

Upvotes: 6

Views: 2129

Answers (1)

JB Nizet
JB Nizet

Reputation: 691755

A unit test, by definition, tests a single unit of code, in isolation. Testing a controller, in isolation of the services it uses, or testing a service, in isolation of the backend REST server it sends requests to, is a good idea, and makes tests really fast, but having all these tests doesn't guarantee that, when everything is assembled together and really talks to a backend, the application runs as expected.

E2e tests test the application as a whole. They are the equivalent of a human tester sitting in front of a browser and using the application to see if it works as expected. Protractor is a layer on top of Selenium, which allows using a browser programmatically, i.e. write instructions to click on a link, fill in a form, submit it, as a human would do.

Upvotes: 6

Related Questions