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Capybara VS PHPUnit

Compare Capybara VS PHPUnit and see what are their differences

Capybara logo Capybara

Capybara helps you test web applications by simulating how a real user would interact with your app.

PHPUnit logo PHPUnit

Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and Testing Frameworks
  • Capybara Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-05
  • PHPUnit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-26

Capybara features and specs

  • Robustness
    Capybara provides a robust framework for testing web applications. It offers a natural way to simulate how a user would interact with your app, making it highly efficient for end-to-end testing.
  • DSL
    Capybara's Domain Specific Language (DSL) is expressive and easy to understand, making test scripts straightforward to write and maintain, even for those who may not be deeply familiar with Ruby.
  • Integration
    Capybara easily integrates with Ruby on Rails applications and is designed to work seamlessly with testing frameworks like RSpec and Cucumber, providing flexibility in testing suite setup.
  • Multiple Drivers Support
    Capybara supports multiple drivers, allowing tests to be run in different browsers, which aids in cross-browser testing.
  • Asynchronous Operations
    Capybara has built-in support for dealing with asynchronous web applications, which makes it suitable for testing modern web applications with dynamic content updates.

Possible disadvantages of Capybara

  • Performance
    Tests written in Capybara can be slower compared to unit tests because they involve spinning up a web driver and interacting with the web application like a real user.
  • Complex Setup
    Initial configuration and setup can be complex, especially for those who are not familiar with Ruby or the specific testing environments needed for Capybara.
  • Limited to Ruby
    Capybara is a tool primarily for Ruby applications, which limits its usability for projects written in other languages unless you employ language bridge solutions.
  • Debugging Challenges
    Debugging failures in Capybara tests can sometimes be difficult, as the errors may often be related to timing issues or element invisibility rather than logic errors.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Keeping tests up to date as UI changes occur can require significant effort, potentially leading to high maintenance costs if best practices in test design aren't followed.

PHPUnit features and specs

  • Comprehensive Testing
    PHPUnit provides a wide range of tools and functionalities for unit testing, allowing developers to thoroughly test their PHP code.
  • Command-Line Interface
    PHPUnit includes a robust CLI that facilitates the running of tests, which can be easily integrated into automated build and deployment processes.
  • Integration with CI/CD
    PHPUnit integrates seamlessly with continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines, enhancing the DevOps workflow.
  • Mock Objects
    The framework provides built-in support for creating mock objects, which can simulate the behavior of complex dependencies, making unit tests more isolated and reliable.
  • Rich Documentation
    PHPUnit has extensive documentation and a strong community, offering a wealth of resources and support for developers.
  • Code Coverage Analysis
    PHPUnit can be used with Xdebug or PHPDBG to generate detailed code coverage reports, helping identify untested parts of the codebase.

Possible disadvantages of PHPUnit

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, PHPUnit can be daunting due to its comprehensive set of features and conventions, requiring a significant time investment to master.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running a large number of tests with PHPUnit can introduce performance overhead, making test execution slower especially in larger projects.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up PHPUnit in a complex development environment can sometimes be tricky, requiring careful configuration and maintenance.
  • Limited Functional Testing
    PHPUnit is primarily designed for unit testing and may not be as suitable for functional or end-to-end testing, necessitating additional tools for comprehensive test coverage.

Capybara videos

Kalibrgun CAPYBARA Released - FIRST REVIEW 2019

More videos:

  • Review - Schrade Old Timer 30OT Capybara Fixed Blade Knife Review
  • Review - Capybara Video Review

PHPUnit videos

PHP Unit Testing with PHPUnit | Automated PHP Testing Tutorial [2021]

More videos:

  • Review - DrupalCon Dublin 2016: Automated Testing: PHPUnit all the way
  • Review - Our first PHPunit test in Drupal 8

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Capybara and PHPUnit)
Automated Testing
44 44%
56% 56
Testing
100 100%
0% 0
Development
0 0%
100% 100
Browser Testing
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PHPUnit should be more popular than Capybara. It has been mentiond 33 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Capybara mentions (12)

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PHPUnit mentions (33)

  • 19+ Laravel Best Practices for Developers in 2024
    Laravel also has out-of-the-box testing tools like Pest and PHPUnit and functionalities to enable expressive testing. It also supports executing automated testing sessions that are more precise than manual ones. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Focusing your tests on the domain. A PHPUnit example
    The example is built over a Symfony environment and using the PHPUnit library, but the idea is valid for any language or framework. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Run PHPUnit locally in your WordPress Plugin with DDEV
    Okay, I am digressing; the focus here is PHPUnit for plugins. As with many of my other articles, my goal is to create a reference for myself to use when I need it in the future. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Wordpress tests with Pest and WP Setup
    Today, I finished the first implementation of this environment, adding Pest and PHPUnit in v10.5, which is currently not supported by default with WP Env. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Laravel Fundamentals: A Cheat Sheet for Rapid Development
    Laravel integrates with PHPUnit for unit testing out-of-the-box. Tests are stored in the tests directory of your Laravel application. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Capybara and PHPUnit, you can also consider the following products

Cucumber - Cucumber is a BDD tool for specification of application features and user scenarios in plain text.

JUnit - JUnit is a simple framework to write repeatable tests.

Selenium - Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that.

PHPTester.net - PHPTester.net gives developers and learners the ability to write their PHP code and get the output online.

RSpec - RSpec is a testing tool for the Ruby programming language born under the banner of Behavior-Driven Development featuring a rich command line program, textual descriptions of examples, and more.

WritePHPOnline.Com - WritePHPOnline.Com is an online site that enables you to write code in PHP and view its output.