Software applications have become a necessary part of each person’s life. Software applications need to have a place in the specialized industry. It has its hold over each space, be it technical or non-technical. Guaranteeing the software application fulfills the user’s necessities and gives a consistent experience is necessary. Automated testing is one of the techniques that can be performed using frameworks like Playwright.
Playwright is an in-demand framework utilized for automation testing. This is often because the center of Playwright testing is on the end-users of the software application. The end-users are the ones who recognize whether the software application will get its notoriety or not. Playwright can carry out automated cross-browser testing. This guarantees that the software application works flawlessly over all the browsers in a short duration and exertion. The applications can also experience end-to-end testing. Hence, it fulfills the end-users with the execution of the software applications.
In this article, we will learn almost all the techniques utilized for performing Playwright testing. Will also discuss common mistakes to avoid during Playwright testing and the best practices that can be taken to overcome them. These would offer assistance in conveying a quality software application over the globe.
What is Playwright?
To induce alongside this fast-moving software industry and send software applications at their anticipated time, we have to accelerate the advancement of our software application. The speeding up can hence increment with the utilization of automation testing. For automated testing, we require a framework or a library. And the Playwright is the leading choice for it.
The Playwright, presented by Microsoft, is an automated testing framework. The programming language utilized to create the Playwright framework was JavaScript. It is additionally referred to as the Node.js Library. The capabilities possessed by the Playwright have played a part in its ubiquity. A Writer can consequently test the software application across various browsers employing a single API. It generally costs less to set up distinctive situations for each browser. It is additionally considered best for conducting end-to-end testing on software applications. It makes a difference in guaranteeing the conveyance of consistent software applications with the most excellent client encounters to the conclusion of clients.
Automated testing is the improvement of conventional manual testing that speeds up the testing preparation for a software application. For automated testing, we require a framework. A playwright could be a well-known choice. Moreover, Writers can coordinate with cloud-based platforms like LambdaTest.
LambdaTest is a robust cloud testing platform that aims to streamline and enhance the automation testing process for developers and testers. One of its key strengths lies in its ability to automate complex and uncertain scenarios, providing a reliable solution for addressing various testing requirements.
What sets LambdaTest apart in automation testing is its AI-powered test execution and orchestration capabilities. This allows users to access an extensive grid of over 3000 real browsers and operating system combinations. This diverse testing environment allows for comprehensive coverage, ensuring that applications are thoroughly tested across various configurations.
LambdaTest goes beyond the conventional automation capabilities, making it a valuable tool for handling intricate testing scenarios. Its user-friendly interface and advanced features empower teams to seamlessly automate tests, enabling efficient and effective testing across different browsers and operating systems. In summary, LambdaTest is a versatile and powerful ally for those looking to optimize their automation testing processes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Testing Your Playwright Scripts
Testing the software application is one of the most important phases of software application development. A small mistake can easily waste the efforts and time given to testing software applications. Therefore, here is a list of common mistakes one must avoid when testing the Playwright’s scripts.
- Configuring Playwright for Node.js Poorly: The correct configuration of Playwright for Node.js is crucial. A slight mistake can cause failure in the test cases. Also, false positives and unreliable results can occur. However, the correct setup of tools can save you from these issues. Playwright also offers its users various configuration options. However, focusing more on environmental variables and CLI parameters is suggested.
- The Environment variable allows you to define all the configurations needed during software application testing seamlessly. It allows you to design the environment according to the software application requirements and usability. Also, the browser and viewport for testing could be specified.
- The command line interface offered by the Playwright can be utilized to configure the execution of test cases. The best way for CLI interaction is to become familiar with it. This can be done through the Playwright’s documentation.
- Writing Short Tests For No Real Reasons: There are various assertions in a software application. Scripting multiple tests for each assertion keeps your test short. But this is just a mistake you should avoid. Shorter tests just increase your overall execution time for test cases. For playwright testing, you should consider scripting longer tests. This helps in analyzing the software application from the user’s perspective.
We know very well that the end user may perform various tasks at a shot. Therefore, long tests ensure the proper functioning of the entire software application with multiple interactions. The Playwright can also determine the cause of failure and provide you with the same. Therefore, you must write long tests with several assertions until they are easily manageable.
- Testing Third-Party Applications: Software applications are ordinarily coordinated with third-party applications for superior execution. To guarantee a consistent software application, testers test integrative with third-party applications. But, concurring with the official documentation by the Playwright, it is one of the foremost common mistakes that must be maintained at a strategic distance.
- Typically, since the third-party applications aren’t under the control of the development group, the third-party application may update without any information. Encouraging unknown behavior changes within the third-party application may lead to the failure of your test cases. Subsequently, it is best to center on testing for the different functionalities of the software application instead of testing its integration with third-party applications.
- Not Using Proper Selectors: The frontend part of the software applications is designed using multiple HTML elements. To identify them and interact with them, you need selectors. Therefore, selectors play a key part in Playwright tests. With this, it is essential to choose the appropriate selector. Failing to do so may lead to unexpected test results. Thereby increasing the maintenance effort for software applications and reducing its stability.
Also, you must avoid the usage of generic tags as selectors. This leads to undesirable actions as a software application may have multiple elements of the same tag. It is also suggested that excessive specific selectors be avoided. This may tightly couple tests to a particular structure. A small change in the structure may lead to test failure.
- Ignoring Playwright’s Debugging Capabilities: The various issues with the functionality of the software application lead to the failure of test cases. But this is not the only reason for the failure of test cases. A test code with bugs in it can also be the reason for test case failure. Therefore, it is advisable to debug your test scripts before testing the functionality of the software application. The playwright is a powerful framework that has built-in debugging capabilities.
Playwright allows the execution of test cases in debug mode. In the debug mode, the executed test scripts are analyzed in real-time. If there’s an issue with the locators, they are edited, and at the same time, actionability logs are checked. Also, the various functions present in the software applications code can be wrapped up with the page.evaluate() method. Then, you may even print the evaluated values in the console to identify bugs.
- Failing to Handle Errors: Error handling plays an important role in developing seamless software applications. Test errors and exceptions are common but shouldn’t be avoided. This is because a small error may also lead to the failure of the test cases. It may even result in false positives and negatives. The playwright helps in handling the error through the try-catch statement. The try block contains the test code suspected of an error. The catch block contains the line of code that may handle the error.
Best Practices for a seamless Playwright Testing
- The playwright gives a message and exits execution of test cases at whatever point a test comes up short. Still, using soft assertion will permit you to execute the whole test suite and list all the mistake messages after completing the test run.
- Parallel execution lets you test numerous test cases simultaneously because it will save time and assist developers and analyzers in conveying the software application on the anticipated date.
- Integrating the Playwright test with the CI/CD pipeline will permit the cloud-based platform to naturally conduct iterative testing at whatever point there’s a code alter within the test script.
- For test case information, it is best to utilize a database because it will assist in controlling data and guarantee no duplication or repetition of information.
Conclusion
Playwright is a boon for testers and developers. It allows seamless testing of software applications. Therefore, automated testing with Playwright on a software application makes it scalable, reliable, and efficient. However, the mistakes made during Playwright testing eliminate the capabilities of the Playwright. Therefore, this article deals with mistakes that should be avoided. Common mistakes such as configuring Playwright for Node.js poorly, failing to handle errors, ignoring Playwright’s debugging capabilities, writing short tests for no real reason, and many more affect the software application’s effectiveness. The article also suggests some best practices for efficient Playwright testing.