Karma config file for Angular / requireJS Project

There are many KarmaJS config files, but this is my config file

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To develop an Angular project with an Test-driven development (TDD) approach, using a software like KarmaJS is essential. My Angular project uses RequireJS to load, so Karma needs to be loaded with RequireJS too.

Installation

Install Karma and some plugins via Node:
https://karma-runner.github.io/0.13/intro/installation.html

# Install Karma:
$ npm install karma --save-dev

# Install plugins that your project needs:
$ npm install karma-jasmine karma-chrome-launcher --save-dev

RequireJS Plugin

This Karma plugin is a Adapter for the RequireJS framework - there is a very good documentation link on the gitub page - https://github.com/karma-runner/karma-requirejs

Jasmine Plugin

This Karma plugin is a adapter for Jasmine testing framework. Jasmine is a framework for testing JavaScript code - https://github.com/karma-runner/karma-jasmine

PhantomJS Plugin

This Karma plugin launches the headless PhantomJS Browser. Karma will launch PhantomJS in the terminal - https://github.com/karma-runner/karma-phantomjs-launcher

Bonus: Karma Spec Reporter

I liked the output from this test reporter software. The only drawback was a little issue with filtering the output (issue #19) - but it can be kinda fixed with a config parameter. Don’t forget to activate the new Spec Reporter - https://github.com/mlex/karma-spec-reporter

Tips & Tricks

I had a few troubles getting Karma up and running, here are the things I’ve learned while setting everything up.

Set the config parameter logLevel to get the very helpful error messages
Don’t forget to load the RequireJS with the frameworks parameter
It was essential to load AngularJS before everything else gets loaded via the files setting. This costed me a few hours.
Exclude the projects RequireJS „main“ config file.
The basePath, urlRoot and proxies can get a bit tricky too. The urlRoot value must always be /base/ at least on my test server. I as well needed to set the proxies parameter, since I use vHosts or rather a Router to serve my local development server with the address flyweb.dev