Choice of Language and Framework for Unit Tests on HUD

[Najam Ul Saqib]

Hi,

By working on HUD these days, I see that primarily Java is being used for unit tests on HUD (which inherently is a JS project) so I was thinking if it would be fine if I grow the unit tests using Javascript? It would be much easier for me to do so since I am more comfortable with JS.

If yes, currently we're using ava when we have much more established frameworks like mocha and chai; should I move our current unit tests to one of the frameworks which we decide mutually?

Also, JS vs TS can also be debated upon.

Discussing it with thc202 in IRC; he suggested that moving to JS can be concerning for other devs since most of you here are using Java.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

[psiinon]

FWIW the Browser Extension https://github.com/zaproxy/browser-extension uses jest for testing.

Keeping these 2 projects fairly compatible would be a very good thing IMO.

If enough HUD integration tests are written in JS/TS then I'd be happy for those to replace the Java integration tests.

The Browser Extension is also written in Type Script, which I personally think is a more robust language for these sort of projects ;)

However the HUD works in very different way - we inject JS directly into the target application.

We can also currently change the HUD JS code in ZAP and see changes immediatelly reflected in the HUD.

I like that feature, but I also have not been able to spend much time on HUD development :)

Other points of view gratefully received, especially from people who might contribute to HUD development!

Cheers,

Simon

[Najam Ul Saqib]

Alright, so should we consider Jest for HUD?

We can begin with writing unit tests in TS and then slowly make the transition.

If there are more suggestions, I am up for it so please mention it beforehand, it will be tough to change the approach once the work has started.

[psiinon]

I think thats a good approach.

Thoughts from anyone else?

Cheers,

Simon

[Najam Ul Saqib]

We should also consider moving to modules from ES6; currently we're using commonJS in HUD.

[psiinon]

In general I'm all for using the latest, greatest options :)

But what are the full implications of such a move?

Cheers,

Simon

[Najam Ul Saqib]

To be honest, I am not aware of the implications; the migration is simple but since the JS code is being used by ZAP so it can break the app.

[psiinon]

Try it and see then :D

[Najam Ul Saqib]

will do so once we have other more important tasks done like unit test fixes, jest migration, etc.

[psiinon]

That makes sense.