The application testing process has become one of the most important processes in the modern and complex app development lifecycle. This is because, with proper testing processes, the developers will often end up releasing applications that are not only suboptimal but destroy the reputation of the company.
Moreover, the application testing process has also evolved over a couple of years. For instance, the contemporary testing practice was to use complete manual test cases for conducting all the processes.
However, the apps have become so complex consisting of multiple different elements that complete manual test cases have become almost impossible. So, the developers have to use modern testing processes like automation testing with Playwright to meet the needs of modern applications.
In this article, we’re going to discuss all the important details regarding creating Playwright automation test cases using the popular programming language known as JavaScript. We will also analyze certain useful practices, platforms, and tools that can help the testers to elevate the quality of the test cases.
The Basics of Playwright
Playwright is an open-source test automation tool that is developed and maintained by Microsoft. Since this tool is completely linked with Microsoft, the developers can rest assured that it will continue to receive stable updates. Moreover, the open-source nature of Playwright means that all of its features are accessible to all developers without any charge. This feature is truly beneficial for individual creators and small companies who cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars on licensing fees. Playwright is popular in the application development industry for its ability to quickly conduct end-to-end test cases. End-to-end testing is the process of verifying not only the individual performance of all the elements in the application but also the stable performance when combined.
While using Playwright, the developers can verify the performance of their application on most of the popular browser rendering engines that are currently available in the market. This means that developers can test the performance of the application on browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome. Moreover, Playwright helps the automation testers to customize all the test cases according to the needs of the development project. This means the developers can initiate the test cases in headless, headed, remote, or even on-site mode. A major benefit of Playwright is that it helps the developers to simulate an Android device on a desktop. Using these features, the developers can test the functioning of the application on mobile devices as well.
Advantages of using Playwright Automation Testing
For understanding the true potential of Playwright automation testing, we need to understand all of its benefits. They are as follows:
- While using Playwright, the developers can implement the dev tools protocol. The dev tools protocol is very important for developers to create stable and powerful automation test cases. These test cases help the developers to customize the automation testing processes according to their requirements.
- While using Playwright automation testing, the developers will not require any middle translation layer for controlling the test cases. This is because with this tool the developers can not only see but also control all the test cases that are presently being executed on all the web browsers.
- The setup process is very simple for Playwright. This is because the developers would not have to download and install any third-party tool for using Playwright. However, the developers need to remember that the setup process for Playwright will change according to their preferred programming language.
- The diversity of Playwright is huge as it supports multiple websites and browsers to improve the interactivity and innovative nature of the developers.
- While using Playwright, the developers can initiate multiple testing processes on the application to improve its functionality. For instance, Playwright allows application developers to initiate functional testing, end-to-end testing, API testing, and even third-party plugin testing.
- While using Playwright, the developers can initiate multiple windows simultaneously. This is a very important feature when the developers have to test multiple features of the application at the same time. It also helps the developers to verify the proper functioning of multiple elements present in a web app.
- The most important feature of Playwright is that the developer does not have to perform any setup process for using JavaScript or the Typescript programming language. This is because the Playwright automation testing tool comes with native support for these programming languages.
- While using Playwright, the developers can use different debugging tools to find the critical errors present in the test cases. Some of the common debugging options available with this tool are trace viewer logs, browser developer tools, and a VSCode debugger.
Getting Started with Playwright Automation Testing using JavaScript
We already discussed that Playwright comes with native support for the JavaScript programming language. So, it is very easy for developers to create automation test cases with this programming language. The developers simply have to follow the steps given below:
- The first step in this process is to install the visual code studio that will be available from the official website. The developers need to ensure that they are getting the latest version of this software.
- After downloading the above software, it is also important for the developers to install node JS. This software helps the developers to ensure that they can properly execute all the Playwright automation test cases on the target elements of a web application.
- After successfully downloading both of the softwares, the developers have to create a new directory present in VSCode. The developers can name this directory according to the needs of the app that is undergoing the development process.
- After this process, the developers have to find the new terminal option that will be available in the terminal menu of VSCode. This terminal window is very important as it will help the developers to conduct all the basic processes related to the application testing process.
- The next step in this process is to initiate the Playwright automation testing tool. For this process, the developers have to type a specific command in the terminal window of VSCode. After this process, the system will automatically install and integrate Playwright automation testing tool. Then, the system will prompt the developers to select the appropriate inputs and choose their preferred programming language for all the development processes.
- After successfully choosing JavaScript as the preferred language, the developer can finally create the automation test cases with this language. For this process, the developers simply have to create a new test file in the test directory. The developers need to name this file according to the target element to keep track of all the testing processes. It also helps to reduce the complexity of the testing process.
Influence of Tools and Platforms in JavaScript-based Playwright Testing
Whenever we’re talking about any form of new technology, it is one of the most common ideas that various tools and platforms can massively help to reduce the learning curve for these new additions. This case is also similar to when the automation testers are beginning to start the transition to Playwright testing. Several tools are easily available in the market that can help the developers not only simplify the automation testing process but also add several new features for improving its efficiency. For instance, cloud platforms are an excellent example as it helps the developers to eliminate the headache of maintaining an onsite device test bench.
On-site, device benches have several real devices that assist the developers to verify the functioning of their application on these devices. It is a very important process for not only increasing the test coverage but also ensuring that you make your app accessible to a wider segment of the audience. However, it is not only an expensive process but also very hectic because almost a thousand new devices come into the market annually.
On the other hand, cloud platforms serve a similar purpose while allowing developers to execute all of these testing processes on the cloud. The two major benefits of cloud testing are that it not only helps the developers to implement unlimited test cases but also executes them from anywhere around the globe. For accessing all of these features, the automation testers only have to pay a very low license fee. Let us learn more about the efficient processes of implementing cloud testing by shifting our focus toward LambdaTest:
To begin the discussion, we can say that LambdaTest is a secure and safe cloud platform for the execution of modern cross-browser test cases on complex web apps. Considering the standards of the modern app development market, cross-browser testing has become a mandatory process to ensure that you are providing the best user experience to your customers. This is because, with the help of these advanced testing processes, the developers can ensure that the application is stable and functional irrespective of changes in the OS version or the device info. LambdaTest also has various unique offerings to improve the efficiency of the testing processes like parallel test initiation. It is the process of initiating multiple different test configurations at the same time. This platform can initiate automation test cases for multiple popular platforms like Playwright, Selenium, and Cypress.
While using Playwright test cases, the developers can initiate them on more than 50 different browsers. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that LambdaTest improves the accuracy of the testing processes by combining different reports from hundreds of simulators, emulators, and multiple real cloud-based devices.
The Final verdict
So, we can easily see that automation testing is the future of the application development market. The developers need to start the transition to maintain their position in this competitive segment of the industry. It is also important for automation testers to realize the full potential of different automation tools like Playwright. We used JavaScript for writing the test cases as it is the most popular programming language in the current market. So, we can easily say that almost every tester has some form of knowledge of using this language. One of the most important benefits of using your preferred programming language is that it will not restrict your innovative capabilities. Lastly, automation testers need to use the perfect tool or platform that can suit the testing requirements of the project.
