expect

What is expect?

The 'expect' npm package is a library for writing test assertions. It is commonly used in conjunction with testing frameworks like Jest or Mocha to validate the behavior of JavaScript code. It provides a range of assertion types and matchers that allow developers to write expressive and readable tests.

What are expect's main functionalities?

Basic Assertions

This feature allows you to assert that a value matches exactly what you expect. The 'toBe' matcher compares with ===.

expect(2 + 2).toBe(4);

Object Property Assertions

With this feature, you can assert that an object has a specific property with a certain value. The 'toHaveProperty' matcher checks for the existence and value of a property in an object.

expect({ name: 'Alice', age: 30 }).toHaveProperty('name', 'Alice');

Exception Testing

This feature is used to test if a function throws an exception when it is executed. The 'toThrow' matcher is used to assert that an error is thrown with a specific message.

expect(() => { throw new Error('failure'); }).toThrow('failure');

Array Containment

This feature allows you to assert that an array contains a specific item. The 'toContain' matcher checks if an array includes the expected item.

expect(['Alice', 'Bob', 'Eve']).toContain('Bob');

Asynchronous Assertions

This feature enables you to write assertions for asynchronous code. The 'resolves' matcher waits for a promise to resolve and then checks the resolved value.

expect(Promise.resolve('success')).resolves.toBe('success');

Other packages similar to expect

chai

Chai is a BDD/TDD assertion library for node and the browser that can be paired with any javascript testing framework. It offers a similar range of matchers and assertions as expect, and it provides a fluent chainable language to construct assertions.

should

Should.js is an expressive, readable, framework-agnostic assertion library. The key difference is in the style of assertions it offers, using a more fluent chainable API that reads like English.

assert

Assert is a module that provides a set of assertion functions for verifying invariants. It is built into Node.js and is less feature-rich compared to expect, but it serves as a simple way to write assertions in a Node.js environment.

jest

Jest is a delightful JavaScript Testing Framework with a focus on simplicity. It comes with its own assertion library, which provides functionality similar to expect, as expect is actually part of Jest.

README

expect

This package exports the expect function used in Jest. You can find its documentation on Jest's website.