Week Eleven of Internship

In week eleven of my internship, I focused on learning the fundamentals of unit testing, especially within the React Admin framework. I explored tools like Jest, Babel, and Mocha to understand how each works in different testing environments. I also applied what I learned to parts of a previous project to see how various components behave when isolated and tested properly.

Getting Started with Unit Testing

I began by learning the structure of unit tests using Jest and React Testing Library. React Admin relies heavily on these tools, so understanding how to write and run tests was essential. I explored how to isolate components and wrap them in the necessary context, such as <AdminContext>, to ensure they render correctly during tests. I practiced mocking data providers and resetting the store to avoid shared state issues across tests. This hands-on experience gave me a clearer picture of how robust and maintainable code is built through testing.

Jest and Its Role in Testing

Jest was the main testing framework I used this week. It offers an intuitive syntax for writing test cases and integrates seamlessly with React projects. I learned how to use it to check if elements are rendered correctly, simulate user interactions, and assert expected outcomes. Its compatibility with React Testing Library made the process smoother, especially when testing hooks and UI components from React Admin.

Using Babel for Compatibility

To ensure tests run correctly in modern JavaScript environments, I also learned how Babel helps compile JSX and ES6+ code into browser-compatible JavaScript. While setting up Babel wasn’t the most hands-on part, understanding its role in transpiling code during tests helped me troubleshoot errors related to module syntax and file imports.

Exploring Mocha as an Alternative

Besides Jest, I explored Mocha, another popular testing framework. Mocha offers a flexible and modular approach to testing, often used in backend Node.js environments. Compared to Jest, Mocha requires more setup, especially for assertions and mocking, but it gave me a deeper appreciation for how different tools handle testing workflows. Trying Mocha helped me compare and understand why Jest is more commonly used in React-based frontend applications.

Testing Components on the Dashboard

Toward the end of the week, I attempted to apply these testing practices to the dashboard component of our React Admin project. This included writing tests for components that rely on permissions, store state, and external data. Using mock data providers and memoryStore helped simulate various user scenarios, and I ensured components behaved correctly based on roles and access levels.

Key Learning’s

• How to structure and write unit tests using Jest and React Testing Library.
• The importance of context and mocking in React Admin tests.
• The role of Babel and Mocha in supporting different testing environments.

This week was all about getting comfortable with testing workflows. I now feel more confident using tools like Jest and React Testing Library to validate components and application logic. While Mocha was an interesting comparison, I found Jest’s integration with React projects much more straightforward. Overall, this week built a solid foundation for writing more reliable and maintainable code.ke Jest, Babel, and context providers work together to build reliable, maintainable components.