Friday, 21 July 2023
It’s well known that test automation is vital for organisations to remain competitive and ensure high-quality applications. Traditional automation tools that require constant code maintenance can be time-consuming and costly. However, there is a more efficient alternative gaining traction among businesses—JavaScript-based library tools like Playwright and Cypress. In this blog post, we explore why companies are migrating to these tools the differences they can bring.
Unlocking Business Value with Playwright and Cypress:
Language Flexibility: Playwright and Cypress support multiple programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, .NET, Python, Java, and Go. This versatility allows organisations to leverage their existing development talent and infrastructure, minimising the learning curve and maximising productivity.
Developer-Friendly Environment: Playwright and Cypress provide a developer-centric environment, with integrated development tools including VS Code extensions that facilitate seamless test creation, debugging, and execution. This empowers developers to work more efficiently and collaboratively, leading to faster test development and increased productivity.
Comprehensive Testing Capabilities: Playwright offers extensive support for testing complex scenarios involving iframes, multiple tabs, multiple users, and multiple origins/domains. This enables businesses to thoroughly validate critical functionalities, ensuring a seamless user experience and minimising the risk of undiscovered issues.
Actionable HTML Reporting: Playwright generates comprehensive HTML reports that present test execution outcomes in a user-friendly format. These reports include essential artifacts such as traces, error logs, videos, and screenshots, providing stakeholders with actionable insights into test results. The clear and concise reporting enables faster decision-making and facilitates effective communication across teams.
Enhanced Performance: Playwright and Cypress deliver superior test execution speeds compared to traditional automation tools like Selenium. This performance boost translates into shorter test cycles, enabling businesses to accelerate their development and release cycles. Faster time-to-market means staying ahead of competitors and maximising revenue potential.
Troubleshooting Capabilities: Playwright's built-in tracing feature allows for detailed analysis and post-mortem troubleshooting of test runs. This functionality enables businesses to quickly identify and resolve issues, minimising downtime and ensuring the robustness of their web applications. By efficiently addressing problems, businesses can maintain a positive user experience and safeguard their brand reputation.
Efficient Test Setup: With Playwright, the ability to reuse signed-in states streamlines the test setup process for authenticated scenarios. By eliminating repetitive login procedures, businesses can significantly reduce test setup time, leading to more efficient testing cycles and increased resource utilisation.
API Testing Support: Playwright's support for API testing extends beyond UI testing. This feature empowers businesses to validate backend services and APIs directly within their end-to-end tests. By encompassing both UI and API testing, organisations can achieve comprehensive test coverage and ensure the integrity of their entire software ecosystem.
Seamless File Handling: Playwright and Cypress offer built-in support for file uploading and downloading. This eliminates the need for additional custom solutions or third-party libraries, reducing complexity and ensuring seamless integration with file-related functionalities. Streamlined file handling translates to time and cost savings for businesses.
Reliable Test Locators: Playwright's robust locators functionality eliminates the flakiness often associated with dynamic controls. By simplifying element identification and interaction, organisations can ensure the consistency and reliability of their automated tests. This reduces maintenance efforts and allows businesses to focus on driving innovation rather than dealing with test stability issues.
Visual Regression Testing: Playwright's built-in function toMatchScreenshot() enables businesses to perform visual regression testing efficiently. This ensures consistent branding, adherence to design standards, and a polished user experience across different web browsers. By catching visual discrepancies early, organisations can maintain a professional and user-friendly web presence.
Cross-Browser Compatibility: Playwright and Cypress provide cross-browser interoperability across popular browsers, including Chromium, Chrome, Firefox, WebKit, and Microsoft Edge. This comprehensive browser support allows businesses to deliver a consistent experience to their users across different platforms, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Prolifics Testing: A Game-Changing Success Story in Dynamics CRM 365 Testing
Through the adoption of Playwright, Prolifics Testing were able to successfully transition from a flaky Selenium-based framework to a custom-built, codeless page object model for testing Dynamics CRM 365. This strategic shift yielded tangible benefits, including faster test execution speeds, improved stability, and a significant reduction in the time and cost required for regression testing. Notably, we were able to run 600 end-to-end scenarios in less than 2 hours, empowering our team to release new features and bug fixes to the user acceptance testing (UAT) environment rapidly. This increased agility, combined with enhanced test reliability, contributed to improved customer satisfaction and a competitive advantage in the market.
Conclusion:
In the dynamic realm of web application testing, businesses must embrace innovative solutions to optimise their testing processes. Playwright and Cypress offer organisations a way to streamline testing efforts, reduce maintenance overhead, and deliver high-quality web applications efficiently. With language flexibility, developer-friendly environments, comprehensive testing capabilities, and valuable features like enhanced performance and troubleshooting capabilities, Playwright and Cypress present a compelling next-generation testing solution for businesses seeking to maximise their competitive edge. By adopting these tools, organisations can accelerate their development cycles, enhance product quality, and delight their customers with exceptional web experiences.
Click here to connect with one of our Playwright experts for a no-obligation discussion and how we can help.
Jonathan Binks - Head of Delivery
Prolifics Testing UK
