location.href property vs. location.assign() method

I know this is old, but I stumbled on this when I was looking for a way to check my unit tests were redirecting to the correct url.

I would go with window.location.assign() if you are more concerned with testing. Using a function allows you to mock said function and check the url input parameters.

So, using jest:

window.location.assign = jest.fn();

myUrlUpdateFunction();

expect(window.location.assign).toBeCalledWith('http://my.url');

// Clean up :)
window.location.assign.mockRestore();

I personally prefer calling the function instead, because calling a function gives me a better impression that something is running and that is not only a value of a variable that is changing.

But probably yes, it may be true that location.href = url; is faster than location.assign(url), although it may depend on the JavaScript engine implementation, according to my tests. [Dead link to tests removed.]