- Mayuri Todkar
In the world of test automation, Cypress has emerged as a powerful and popular tool for web application testing. With its intuitive syntax, powerful APIs, and robust test runner, Cypress provides an excellent foundation for building efficient and reliable test suites. However, what takes Cypress to the next level is its extensibility through plugins and extensions. In this blog, we'll explore how you can supercharge your testing workflow with Cypress and how to start with cypress.
Cypress Automation Testing: Unleashing the Power of Effortless and Reliable Testing 🚀
Cypress is mainly used for
🔬 Unit Testing
🔄 Integration Testing
🌊 End-to-End flow Testing
💼 Functional Testing
Discover the power of Cypress and its unique advantages over Selenium:
Why Cypress and How it Differs from Selenium? 🌟
⚡️ Fast, Consistent, Effortless, and Reliable: Cypress delivers lightning-fast, consistent, effortless, and reliable test execution. Unlike Selenium, Cypress runs tests directly inside the browser without the need for a browser driver.
⏰ Automatic Waiting: No more explicit waits or sleep commands. Cypress intelligently waits for commands and assertions, eliminating asynchronicity issues.
⏳ Time Travel: Hover over each command in the Command Log to witness the precise sequence of actions. Unlike other tools, Cypress allows you to debug and review each step while tests are running.
🐞 Easy Debugging: Cypress's Developer Tools simplify debugging with clear errors, stack traces, and readable error messages, providing insights into script failures.
📊 Test Status Menu: Get a visual overview of test progress with Cypress's test status menu, showcasing the number of passed and failed test cases.
🔄 Automatic Test Reload: Cypress automatically incorporates updates made in tests, ensuring you work with the most recent changes effortlessly.
📸 Screenshots and Videos: Capture screenshots on test failures and record full test suite videos from the command line interface. The Cypress Dashboard even allows you to watch recorded videos of the testing process.
🌐 Single Easy Universal Language: Built on Node.js, Cypress exclusively works with JavaScript, making it simple for both developers and testers to utilize.
🌍 Multiple Browser Support: Cypress supports Chrome, Edge, Electron (default browser in headless mode), and Firefox (currently under construction), enabling testing across different environments.
🧪 API Testing Support: Cypress can perform HTTP calls, allowing you to test APIs alongside web UI testing.
🧩 External Plugin Support: Expand Cypress's capabilities with a wide range of external plugins, enhancing your test coverage and flexibility.
What Cypress Cannot Do
- JavaScript Limitation: Cypress only works with JavaScript, limiting language choices.
- Multi-Browser Testing: Unlike Selenium Grid, Cypress does not support simultaneous test case execution on different browsers.
- Safari Support: Cypress does not currently support Safari, restricting cross-browser testing when compared to Selenium.
Exploring Cypress Plugins: Elevate Your Testing Experience
Discover the power of Cypress plugins to extend its functionality and cater to your specific testing needs:
🛠️ Custom Commands: Encapsulate reusable test logic and enhance script readability using custom commands.
🔗 Third-Party Integrations: Seamlessly integrate popular tools like Slack, GitHub, and TestCafe to enhance collaboration, reporting, and test management.
📊 Test Data Generation: Generate dynamic and realistic test data with plugins, saving time and effort in scenario creation.
📸 Visual Testing: Capture and compare screenshots or perform visual regression testing with plugins designed for visual testing.
🧪 Cypress Testing Library: Leverage utility functions for user-centric testing, ensuring more resilient and accessible tests.
🥒 Cypress Cucumber Preprocessor: Write tests in the Gherkin language and embrace the power of behaviour-driven development (BDD) within Cypress.
🌍 Cypress-axe: Integrate the aXe accessibility testing engine, enabling automated accessibility
🛠️ Building Your Own Cypress Plugins and Extensions : Feeling adventurous? We'll provide a step-by-step guide on creating your own Cypress plugins and extensions. By the end of the blog, you'll have the knowledge and confidence to extend Cypress to fit your unique testing requirements.
Writing First Test using Cypress
Step 1: Install Cypress
- Ensure Node.js and npm are installed.
- Create a project directory and navigate to it in the terminal.
- Run
npm init -yto initialize a new npm project. - Install Cypress as a dev dependency with
npm install cypress --save-dev.
Step 2: Write Your First Test
- Open Cypress Test Runner using
npx cypress open. - Choose "Your Project" in the Cypress Test Runner.
- Select the desired testing type (e.g., E2E).Choose a browser for test execution.
Step 3: Write Your Test
- Create a new test file within the Cypress Test Runner.
- Use Cypress's API to write your test logic.
- Utilize commands like
cy.visit(),cy.get(), andcy.contains().
Step 4: Run Your Test
- Save the test file.
- Cypress Test Runner will automatically execute the test.
- Monitor the real-time test results and debug any failures or errors.
Write down below code snippet for E2E testing on www.dnb.no
// type definitions for Cypress object "cy"
/// <reference types= "cypress" />
describe 'Hello DNB and Become a customer', () => {
it('visit dnb.no Page', () => {
cy.visit("https://www.dnb.no")
cy.get ("span: contains ("OK")")
.click()
cy.get(
'a[href="/kundeprogram/bli-kunde"]'
).click()
})
})
Above code snippet demonstrates the E2E test case where we are testing DNB customer onboarding web page.
In a nutshell:
Cypress automation is easy to write and execute as compared to Selenium. This blog contains only the introduction and some quick steps for getting started.
Happy testing 😊