FsCheck vs PropCheck
FsCheck
fscheck.github.ioPropCheck
github.comSide by side
| Figure | FsCheck | PropCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Property-Based Testing Tools | 8.4 (#3) | 8.0 (#7) |
| Generators | Users can define custom test data generators and shrinkers, and package them together in Arbitrary instances. | It includes generators for common Ruby data types and a DSL for defining custom generators. |
| Installation | FsCheck and its NUnit and xUnit.NET plugins can be installed from NuGet. | The README says to add `gem 'prop_check'` to a Gemfile or install it with `gem install prop_check`. |
| License | The project says its BSD license permits modification and redistribution for commercial and non-commercial purposes. | The project is released under the MIT License. |
| Purpose | FsCheck automatically tests .NET programs by checking properties against randomly generated cases. | PropCheck is a Ruby library for property-based testing that checks assertions against generated inputs. |
| Stateful testing | Model-based testing for stateful systems and objects is in the Experimental namespace, where semantic-versioning promises do not apply. | The README lists stateful property testing as a possible future separate add-on library. |
Plans
In their own words
FsCheck
FsCheck checks properties of.NET programs against randomly generated cases. Developers can express properties in F#, C# or VB, then run them with the built-in runner from an interactive session, a command-line program or a test framework. Integrations are documented for xUnit.net and NUnit, with user-created integrations for Expecto, Fuchu, AutoFixture and MSTest. When a property fails, FsCheck shrinks the input and shows a minimal counterexample. Developers can also define custom generators and shrinkers and group them in Arbitrary instances. The library supports parameterized cases and parallel execution, and its packages and NUnit and xUnit.NET plugins are available from NuGet. FsCheck is free: its listed plan is free, with a BSD license permitting commercial and non-commercial modification and redistribution. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. The project maintains version 3.x, but its documentation covers 2.x and is described as out of date and incomplete. Its model-based testing API is experimental and exempt from semantic-versioning guarantees.
PropCheck
PropCheck is a Ruby library for property-based testing: it generates inputs and checks whether assertions hold across them. When a generated example fails, it tries to simplify that case into a smaller counterexample. Built-in generators cover integers, floats, strings, symbols, arrays, hashes, sets, dates, times and datetimes. A generator DSL lets developers define their own, while the API also supports mapping and binding values, alternatives and weighted frequency choices.
Before, after and around hooks provide setup and cleanup around generated examples. The README gives usage examples for RSpec, MiniTest, test-unit and vanilla Ruby, and says the library has no external dependencies. PropCheck requires Ruby 2.5.1 or later and is released under the MIT License. It is available as a free Community library. Installation can be done through a Gemfile or with `gem install prop_check`. For generated examples involving a database, the README recommends cleaning database state around each example and mentions DatabaseCleaner. Stateful property testing is described as a possible future separate add-on.