Is there any point for using react-test-renderer with react-testing-library?

Question

I can't understand why some tutorials use react-test-renderer with react-testing-library,

As i understand, react-test-renderer is a library that can create a pure object from a react component and convert it to json snapshot!

import TestRenderer from 'react-test-renderer';

function Link(props) {
  return <a href={props.page}>{props.children}</a>;
}

const testRenderer = TestRenderer.create(
  <Link page="https://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</Link>
);

expect(testRenderer).toMatchSnapshot();

Now, i can do the same with Testing library:

import { render } from '@testing-library/react;

test('create link snapshot', () => {
    const {container} = 
       render(<Linkpage="https://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</Link>);
    expect(container.firstChild).toMatchSnapshot();
})

I really can't understand why i need to use react-test-renderer along with testing-library, what can react-test-renderer do testing-library can't?

Answer 1

Renderer

react-test-renderer is the most basic utility library that is shipped with React. From React documentation:

This package provides a React renderer that can be used to render React components to pure JavaScript objects, without depending on the DOM or a native mobile environment.

---

@testing-library/react

React Testing Library is part of the testing-library family, is built on top of react-test-renderer and is made to be a rather lightweight solution.

It provides utilities to test React and follow the idea of avoiding implementations details tests.

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Enzyme

The Enzyme is much more complex and heavy. It gives you many more functionalities but not only for the best: it becomes too easy to do implementation details testing.

*Note that: Testing implementation details is fundamentally bad *Note that: Enzyme is dead. (There will be no React 18 support). Read more Here

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Read More:

You can visit the link below to read more about these tools and their pros and cons. you can also see a complete comparison and experience after using them over years.

https://morintd.medium.com/react-testing-understand-and-chose-the-right-tools-858236d3c4e1