Building Robust End-to-End Tests with Playwright in 2023

Due to the complexity of modern applications, the testing process has become one of the most critical parts of the application development lifecycle. With the help of an efficient test bench, the developers can ensure that the application is ready to be released to the open market. In this process, the app developers also provide that it is compatible with all system configurations. There are various forms of test cycles that the developers must run on an application in this process. For instance, end-to-end testing is a necessary process that helps app developers ensure the application’s efficiency. The developer must properly integrate this testing process with the existing automation framework like Playwright to utilize the full potential of the test bench.

With this article, we will discuss some of the best steps to help developers realize the full potential of an end-to-end test suite. We will also discuss some of the best integrations that can help developers improve the efficiency of the end-to-end test cycle.

Understanding the Core of End-to-End Testing

End-to-end tests are an essential part of the application development lifecycle that helps the developers to verify not only the individual performance of all the components present in the web application but also their combined execution. With these test cases, the developers can also find out whether any element hurts the proper functioning of the other elements present in the application. This is an essential process for testing applications that are frequently updated. End-to-end testing is a necessary process that helps developers to verify the security of sensitive applications like banking apps, e-commerce apps, and health apps. The initial practice of executing end-to-end testing was through manual test cases. However, due to improved efficiency, companies have started shifting towards automation testing.

Introducing Playwright

Playwright is a popular framework for introducing web testing and automation on modern applications. Playwright is developed and maintained by Microsoft. It is one of the most popular frameworks that help developers to initiate end-to-end testing on web applications. Although it is one of the new contenders in the automation testing market, it has gained a lot of popularity due to its simplicity and ease of access. It also supports all the popular browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox.

Moreover, the developers can use Playwright to verify the application’s functioning on all popular platforms like Linux, Windows, and even the Mac OS. Playwright provides native support to multiple WebKit testing using a single API. Moreover, the open-source nature of Playwright makes it accessible to all developers and testers without worrying about licensing fees.

Building Robust End-to-End Tests with Playwright

There are various factors the developers must keep in mind for creating a robust end-to-end test bench. Currently, Playwright is the most popular option for initiating and executing automated end-to-end tests on web applications. So let us discuss some of the most common factors that the developers must keep in mind for the proper execution of these test cases:

1. The first step for implementing end-to-end testing is to understand the user flows on the application. By the term user flows, we can determine the total number of steps the user has to take to complete a specific task on the application. By determining the user flows, the developers will understand all the steps critical for using the application and initiate an appropriate end-to-end test case. It is one of the primary requirements for adequately testing the application and must be included in the application test plan. The app developers should include the testing and production teams while creating the application testing strategy.
2. App developers must name the test cases properly. This is because modern applications consist of thousands of different elements, which can lead to confusion. Properly naming the test cases according to the target elements will help the developers to easily keep track of the test cases and maintain an activity log for the application. This process will also help the non-technical teams to have a basic idea about the current state of the application development process.
3. Page objects are an important method that helps developers to improve the simplicity of the test sorting system. With the help of page objects, the developers can create a layer between the application user interface and the test code. Thus it makes the code more accessible and readable. Page Objects are also an important model based on the principle of object-oriented programming.
4. While working with Playwright-based end-to-end testing, the developers must have a complete idea about the various wait methods available with this framework. For instance, the developers can initiate explicit and implicit wait based on the application criteria. With this method, the developers can automatically pause the execution of a test case until the completion of the previous test case. It is an important factor when the application developers are working on certain elements that require the proper implementation of the previous one. With the help of explicit and implicit wait, the developers can also eliminate certain errors like a false positive and a false negative.
5. To improve the efficiency of end-to-end testing, the developers can use a random test data generator. These generators will help the developers generate random sets of data critical for verifying the user-interactive nature of an application. It also helps the developers reduce the manual effort required for initiating and executing the automation test cases. In the app development market, these forms of software are readily available.
6. Parallel testing is another critical modern process that can help developers improve the efficiency of automated end-to-end testing. It is an essential factor in improving the application’s reach and preventing any errors that can arise due to compatibility issues. With the help of parallel testing, the developers can initiate and execute multiple test configurations simultaneously. Parallel testing also makes it possible to verify the performance of the application on various machines at the same time.
7. Test tags are an essential feature that can help developers to group the test cases according to certain similarities. After implementing test tags, the developers can run these test cases in a selective format. To create these tasks, the developers must sort the test cases based on their platforms, target elements, or other standard criteria. Test tags also help to quickly verify the functioning of complex applications that consist of thousands of different elements.
8. Continuous integration and continuous delivery are two of the modern features available in agile methodologies. Using these two features, the developers can automatically test the application whenever a change is introduced into the core framework of the app. The significant advantage of this process is that it helps the developers detect and remove the application’s errors at an early stage and remove them. CI/CD tools help to improve the synchronization between the application development and testing teams.
9. While implementing automation testing, the developers can store and reuse the test cases in multiple projects. However, it is essential to review the test cases frequently to ensure the accuracy of the test files. This is because, over time, the test cases become bloated and lose significance. By Reviewing the test cases, the developers can ensure that they are usable according to the present state of the application and market requirements. By refactoring the test cases, the developers can improve their usability and maintainability and make it easy to update the test cases when required.

Integrating Platforms and Tools with Playwright Tests

Integration of platforms and tools is essential for new developers as it massively helps to improve the simplicity of the application development life cycle. Thousands of such tools and platforms are readily available on the Internet. However, the developers must choose the correct tool that can complement their application testing practices. For instance, cloud platforms are an excellent option for small-scale developers and companies who cannot afford a physical device testing lab. This is because, with cloud platforms, the developers can achieve similar test results while initiating and executing all the test cases over the Internet. Using this platform, the developers can also remove the location restrictions on application test cases. This means that it is possible to start and execute the test case from anywhere over the Internet.

We can improve our knowledge about the influence of cloud testing on the modern application development cycle by moving our focus toward LambdaTest as a benchmark:

For the basic introduction, we can say that LambdaTest is an intelligent unified digital experience testing platform that enables developers and testers to perform real-time and automation testing over more than 3000+ environments and also allows them to initiate secure cross-browser test cases on web apps. Cross-browser testing is a new standard for ensuring the quality of the application before delivering it to the end users. This is because, with cross-browser testing, the developers can provide a stable performance irrespective of the user’s change in browser version, operating system, or the complete device hardware.

LambdaTest also helps app developers to improve their efficiency by almost 15 times by introducing parallel test execution. While working with Playwright test cases, the developers can run these instances on more than 50+ browser side by side. Other than executing Playwright-based test cases, LambdaTest can work with popular frameworks like Cypress and Selenium.

It is also possible to verify the proper execution of internally hosted web apps while working with LambdaTest. Lastly, integrating hundreds of real devices with the existing thousands of simulation software helps to elevate the test results’ accuracy massively.

Conclusion

The primary intention of this article was to spread adequate awareness regarding the importance of end-to-end testing in the modern application testing lifecycle. Moreover, we also emphasized the importance of integrating automation testing with end-to-end test cases. This is one of the most critical parameters that will help developers to maintain their companies in the modern app development market.

Automation testing is also essential as we are slowly moving toward the app development market, and automation testing practices will entirely dominate. The developers must keep them updated on all the new additions and trends in this segment. Lastly, app development companies also have a critical role in spreading the proper knowledge and tools regarding efficient automation testing practices.