Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sinon.JS VS Selenium

Compare Sinon.JS VS Selenium and see what are their differences

Sinon.JS logo Sinon.JS

Standalone test spies, stubs and mocks for JavaScript.

Selenium logo 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.
  • Sinon.JS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09
  • Selenium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-08-22

Sinon.JS features and specs

  • Comprehensive Feature Set
    Sinon.JS offers a wide array of features such as spies, mocks, stubs, and fake timers, which are essential for thorough testing, especially when dealing with asynchronous code and external dependencies.
  • Standalone
    It is framework-agnostic and does not require any other libraries, allowing it to be easily integrated with any test framework or used in standalone projects.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Sinon.JS provides well-written and comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers to understand and effectively use the library's wide range of features.
  • Community Support
    Sinon.JS has a strong community and is widely adopted, which means that developers can find numerous tutorials, guides, and community discussions to help them solve issues.
  • Easy Integration with Popular Frameworks
    It easily integrates with popular testing frameworks like Mocha, Jasmine, and QUnit, enhancing the testing capabilities of these frameworks.

Possible disadvantages of Sinon.JS

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The complexity and vast feature set of Sinon.JS can be overwhelming for beginners, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Verbose Syntax
    Sinon.JS can require a lot of boilerplate code to set up mocks and stubs, which can make tests more verbose and harder to read compared to other libraries.
  • Potential for Over-mocking
    Due to its powerful mocking capabilities, there is a risk of over-mocking, which can lead to tests that do not accurately reflect the real application's behavior.
  • Performance Overhead
    Using Sinon.JS can introduce a performance overhead, especially when used extensively in testing environments, as it adds layers of abstraction and complexity.
  • Maintenance and Updates
    Although Sinon.JS is stable, keeping it up-to-date with the latest releases and maintaining tests can be a challenge, particularly when there are breaking changes.

Selenium features and specs

  • Open Source
    Selenium is an open-source tool, which means it is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This makes it a cost-effective choice for companies of all sizes.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Selenium supports multiple browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. This allows testers to ensure that web applications work seamlessly across different browsers.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Selenium can run on various operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This provides flexibility to test on multiple platforms to ensure consistent user experience.
  • Supports Multiple Programming Languages
    Selenium supports multiple programming languages such as Java, C#, Python, and JavaScript. This allows testers to write their scripts in the language they are most comfortable with.
  • Rich Community and Documentation
    Being a widely-used tool, Selenium has extensive community support and a wealth of documentation and tutorials available. This makes it easier for new users to get started and find solutions to problems.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    Selenium integrates well with various testing frameworks and tools like TestNG, JUnit, and Maven, as well as CI/CD tools like Jenkins and Docker. This makes it a versatile and comprehensive automation solution.

Possible disadvantages of Selenium

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Selenium requires knowledge of programming to create and maintain test scripts. For those new to automation or coding, the learning curve can be quite steep.
  • No Built-in Reporting
    Selenium does not come with built-in reporting features. Testers must rely on third-party tools or build custom reporting solutions to generate test reports.
  • Limited Support for Desktop Applications
    Selenium is designed primarily for web application testing and offers limited support for desktop applications. This limits its use in scenarios where desktop application testing is needed.
  • Manual Effort for Maintenance
    Test scripts require regular maintenance to accommodate changes in the web application, such as updates to the UI or changes in element identifiers. This can lead to significant manual effort.
  • Performance Issues
    Selenium can be slower compared to other automation tools, especially when running extensive test suites. This can affect the speed of the overall testing process.
  • Browser Compatibility Issues
    Although Selenium supports multiple browsers, each browser's implementation of WebDriver may have unique quirks and bugs. This occasionally leads to test script compatibility issues across different browsers.

Sinon.JS videos

Sinon.js Tutorial - How to Use Sinon.js, the Mocking Library for Testing

More videos:

  • Review - JS.everywhere(2012): Unit Testing Your JS w QUnit and Sinon.JS - Nicholas Silva
  • Review - Stubbing Javascript date objects using Sinon.js - Stream Highlight

Selenium videos

What is Selenium | Selenium Explained in 2-minutes | Introduction to Selenium | Intellipaat

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sinon.JS and Selenium)
Front End Package Manager
Automated Testing
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Browser Testing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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Selenium Reviews

Top Selenium Alternatives
Nightwatch.js simplifies the setup and use of Selenium WebDriver, providing an abstraction layer that is easier to work with for JavaScript developers. While it offers the broad compatibility and standardization of Selenium WebDriver, it aims to improve the development experience with its simplified syntax and support for the Page Object pattern, making it a middle ground...
Source: bugbug.io
Top 5 Selenium Alternatives for Less Maintenance
And that’s why code-free test automation is important. Implementing codeless Selenium alternatives can address the challenges posed by traditional Selenium testing. They help testers with various skill sets to contribute to the testing process, enhancing collaboration and accelerating the testing lifecycle. For an in-depth discussion on the significance of codeless Selenium,...
Best Automation Testing Tools (Free and Paid) | July 2022
Automation testing is the process of testing the software using an automation tool to find the defects. In this process, executing the test scripts and generating the results are performed automatically by automation tools. Some most popular tools to do automation testing are HP QTP/UFT, Selenium WebDriver, etc.,
20 BEST Selenium Alternatives in 2021
Selenium is an open-source automated testing tool. It can perform functional, regression, load testing on web applications across different browsers and platforms. Selenium is one of the finest tools, but it does have some drawbacks.
Source: www.guru99.com
Top 10 Best Selenium Alternatives You Should Try
Selenium is a convenient and portable software testing tool specifically used for testing web applications. It acts as an API (Application Program Interface) for browser automation. Selenium is the widely used free and open-source tool used for automation testing of web applications through various browsers and platforms.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sinon.JS should be more popular than Selenium. It has been mentiond 24 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.

Sinon.JS mentions (24)

  • How to get 100% code coverage? ✅
    Now, we need to figure out how to test in general. To begin with, we will use Mocha, Sinon, and to generate C8 reports:. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Best Testing Practices in Node.js
    Libraries like Sinon.JS provide robust support for stubs and spies, enabling precise control and inspection of your code's interactions. By favoring stubs and spies, you can keep your tests concise, easier to understand, and less prone to errors. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • An Introduction to Unit Testing in Node.js
    Mocha is a simple and flexible JavaScript testing framework for browser and Node.js applications. Unlike other testing frameworks, it takes a minimalist approach and relies on external libraries for key tasks. It uses Sinon for handling spies, stubs, and mocks, and Chai as the assertion engine. Mocha is extensible through many plugins and can integrate with most test runners. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Writing an Obsidian Plugin Driven By Tests
    As Obsidian code is not available; we must provide some alternate implementation. If you're familiar with sinon, you might think we can create a stubbed instance like this:. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Unit Testing in Node.js and TypeScript: A Comprehensive Guide with Jest Integration
    If you are using a mocking library, such as sinon, jest-mock, or ts-mockito, make sure that it is compatible with Jest. You may need to install additional packages or configure them in your configuration file. For example, to use sinon with Jest, you can install the sinon-jest package and add the following to your configuration file:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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Selenium mentions (8)

  • How to write tests in Django for JavaScript fetch
    You won't be able to test the javascript function itself from within python, but you can exercise the front-end code using something like cypress (https://cypress.io) or the older but still respectable selenium (https://selenium.dev). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Having Issues with selenium
    In addition, .find_element_by_class_name is deprecated since selenium 4.3.0 and the replacement is .find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "class"). Check selenium's site for more info. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Issues with Selenium 4.8.0
    This is the code again after checking selenium's official site :. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Having Issues with selenium
    I also tried the following code seen on the selenium.dev website. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Document Object Model Specification
    The following functions are defined within the Selenium project, at revision 1721e627e3b5ab90a06e82df1b088a33a8d11c20. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sinon.JS and Selenium, you can also consider the following products

Chai - Chai is a BDD / TDD assertion library for node and the browser that can be delightfully paired with any javascript testing framework.

Cypress.io - Slow, difficult and unreliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Install Cypress in seconds and take the pain out of front-end testing.

EyeJS - A JavaScript testing framework for the real world.

Katalon - Built on the top of Selenium and Appium, Katalon Studio is a free and powerful automated testing tool for web testing, mobile testing, and API testing.

Enzyme - Enzyme is a JavaScript testing utility for React.

BrowserStack - BrowserStack is a software testing platform for developers to comprehensively test websites and mobile applications for quality.