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Add to SafariWhen comparing Ghostlab vs CasperJS, the Slant community recommends Ghostlab for most people. In the question“What are the best multi-browser testing tools with synchronized interactions?” Ghostlab is ranked 2nd while CasperJS is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Ghostlab is:
Doesn't need any additional software or browser extensions to be installed on any device. If every device is pointed to the IP address that it provides it will automatically reload that page on every file change.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Can be used without additional software on any browser
Doesn't need any additional software or browser extensions to be installed on any device. If every device is pointed to the IP address that it provides it will automatically reload that page on every file change.
Pro Testing page preset with a lot of useful information
Ghostlab offers a testing page which when opened displays a lot of useful information. Such as, but not limited to: viewport width and height, user agent string, pixel ratio etc...
Pro Synchronizes scrolls, clicks, reloads and form input across all connected clients
Every time the page is reloaded on a device, it's automatically reloaded on every other device connected. It also registers scrolls, form inputs and clicks across different devices and automatically synchronizes them to each connected device.
Pro Cross-browser and cross-device live reloading
Ghostlab offers developers the opportunity to test their site in multiple browsers and devices at the same time. Once the Ghostlab server is deployed, it offers an IP address running on port 8080 which automatically reloads on every file change.
Pro Easy setup
Setting up GhostLab is very easy, by simply dragging a URL or a local folder it creates automatically a new site entry and is ready to work.
It can then be named or choose the specified file extensions that need to be watched.
Pro Remote inspection of code on different devices.
Ghostlab utilizes weinre, an open-source remote debugger to remotely inspect the code on different devices. By double clicking the device name that needs to be inspected, and clicking the 'Debug' button, Ghostlab opens a Chrome inspector which can inspect any item in the page of the device and manipulate the CSS and HTML.
Pro Allows screenshots (either the full page or parts of it) if performing UI testing
There are times where you don't want to open up a browser for screencaps, that is where CasperJS comes to use, it can render the page using its own rendering engine and take and save a screenshot for you, all via the commandline
Pro Easy to understand
Pro Written in JavaScript
Since all webdevs know JS, the start-up time of learning the framework will be reduced to zero, as your team can be productive from day one.
Pro Easily integrates with other applications
Due to the simplicity of the framework, not only other libraries can be built with it, but it can be integrated with any web application as well.
Pro Can run javascript code inside pages being tested
Can execute arbitrary javascript or load external JS into the page being tested. This feature is possible due to the presence of a rendering engine, and helps you see the effects of any client side scripting during your tests.
Cons
Con No Linux version
Ghostlab is available only for Windows and Mac, there is no Linux version. At least for the time being.
Con Not free
Ghostlab is proprietary and not free. It costs $49. Though there is a free 7-days trial.
Con Not for unit testing but rather UI testing
These are two extremely different concepts. CasperJS should be removed from this list
Con Cannot guarantee 100% accurate Webkit-based browser screenshots
QtWebKit is the rendering engine used by CasperJS. Keep in mind this is NOT the same rendering engine as Chrome; hence, if you want to be 100% sure of the results, you must run a Webkit browser (such as Chrome) yourself.
