Web Automation Learning Path with Playwright
The learning path for web automation using Playwright begins with installation, test script writing, and automated test generation. These topics cover essential configuration aspects, such as annotations and built-in utilities, that optimize test performance. Furthermore, it is crucial to prioritize efficient test design by learning best practices, assertions, and retries, and utilizing the “autowait” feature for reliability. Additionally, dedicating time to learning the Page Object Model (POM) for structured test framework design is important. It is also recommended to dedicate time to learning the TypeScript programming language throughout the learning process. Lastly, understanding the significance of identifying automation opportunities and utilizing Playwright for component and API testing will provide a comprehensive understanding of web automation skills.
1. Onboarding with Playwright:
To get started, you’ll need to install Playwright. Once you have Playwright installed, you can write your first test script. But that’s not all! It would help if you also learned how to generate tests automatically using the record and play feature. This feature can save you a lot of time and effort when automating test cases.
After writing your tests, it’s time to run and debug them. Playwright has a great feature called the trace viewer, which allows you to see exactly what’s happening during test execution. This feature can be beneficial for troubleshooting and finding any issues in your tests.
Since all of these tasks are done through Visual Studio Code, it’s worth taking some time to familiarize yourself with it. Visual Studio Code offers many useful features that can make your test development process even smoother.
Installing Playwright
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/first-playwright-test-e49497296e3c
Writing tests
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/actions-in-playwright-f21e4625797b
Generating tests
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/test-generator-using-playwright-956812dc4051
Trace viewer
2. Playwright Configuration Essentials
Once the foundation is set, it’s time to start configuring the Playwright test. Annotations are important for the configurations to work as expected, especially in tests. Understanding the configurations will provide insight into the various fixtures used in test automation, such as reading and writing data from JSON files, utilities for handling secured data, and utilizing environment variables, among others.
In addition, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the different types of configurations available in Playwright. These configurations include setting up the test environment, defining browser options and preferences, and handling timeouts and retries. By familiarizing yourself with these configurations, you will be able to fine-tune your tests and ensure optimal performance.
Furthermore, it is important to note that Playwright offers a variety of built-in utilities and functions that can be used during test configuration. These utilities provide additional features such as generating test reports, capturing screenshots, and managing browser permissions. By effectively utilizing these utilities, you can improve the overall quality and reliability of your tests. This is also the stage to refine your git commands.
Test Configuration
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/streamlining-test-configuration-with-playwright-2335192e76b6
Annotations
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/mastering-test-annotations-9c741cf13cba
Fixtures
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/harnessing-the-power-of-process-env-in-playwright-2e71a2e741
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/encrypting-sensitive-data-in-test-automation-6cb2f76cb01d
Reporters
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/era-of-clarity-and-efficiency-in-reporting-2267e1cbade5
3. Efficient Playwright Test Design
A test suite can be executed sequentially, with each element waiting for a very long time and marking as fail without retrying. This approach, although straightforward, can be time-consuming and may lead to false failures. Alternatively, it can utilize various best practices supported by the Playwright. These include setting up and tearing down tests globally, designing tests to run in parallel, and incorporating assertions into each step by utilizing the autowait feature of Playwright, which helps prevent tests from becoming flaky. By following these best practices, you can optimize the execution of your test suite, reduce the chances of false failures, and ensure a more reliable and efficient testing process.
Global setup and teardown
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/unpacking-test-step-function-80814a07aa71
Assertions
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/assertions-in-playwright-1d151b6e07ec
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/soft-assertions-in-test-automation-2237d9f2ad0d
Retries
Autowait
4. Essential Test Automation Elements
Object identification and programming language choices are two core foundational elements in the study of test automation. They have a significant impact on the reliability, scalability, efficiency, and maintainability of the tool. It is crucial to invest in mastering these aspects for the success of any automation project.
If an automation tool cannot accurately identify objects on a screen, it will be unable to perform any actions on them. Object identification should not be treated as a separate task; instead, it requires collaborative effort. Therefore, it is important to establish a process for naming objects. By reusing the same identifiers, accessibility can also be supported, making object identification the foundation for all other automation tasks. Playwright supports sophisticated locators for locating elements by their visible text, ARIA role, attribute values, as well as traditional CSS and XPath expressions. Knowing when to use which locator is key.
Locator
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/locators-in-playwright-1c2e2fd76ff2
The test automation framework is designed using the Page Object Model (POM) design pattern, which is widely used in web automation testing. To create and maintain the framework, it is important to be aware of the following TypeScript concepts.
- The TypeScript type system allows you to define the types of variables, functions, and objects in your code. This helps prevent errors and makes your code more readable and understandable.
- Interfaces are used to define the structure of an object. They can be useful for defining the expected structure of the elements that your automation tests will interact with.
- Classes are used to create reusable objects. They are useful for creating reusable components for your automation tests, such as page objects or utility classes.
- Promises are used to handle asynchronous operations. This is important for Playwright automation tests, as they often need to interact with asynchronous operations, such as waiting for elements to load or waiting for network requests to complete.
5. Identifying Automation Opportunities
This is the stage to start discussing the testing triangle model, which is a widely recognized approach in software testing. By testing at all three levels of the triangle — unit, component, and end-to-end — bugs can be identified and fixed earlier in the development process. This not only saves time and money in the long run but also ensures a higher-quality product.
When it comes to component testing, Playwright provides built-in support, allowing you to focus on testing individual components in isolation. This type of testing is crucial as it helps ensure the reliability and functionality of each component. With Playwright, you can easily perform component testing directly in the browser, without the need for a full-fledged web application.
In addition to component testing, Playwright can also be used for API testing, which is essential for testing the functionality and performance of individual APIs. With Playwright’s capabilities, you can make HTTP requests to APIs and verify the responses, ensuring that your APIs are working as expected. Integrating API testing with UI testing can bring numerous benefits, such as improved test coverage and efficiency.
When considering automation, it is important to start by identifying the most manual, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks in the workflow. These tasks are often the best candidates for automation, as they can provide significant time savings and enhance overall efficiency. By automating tasks that involve a lot of data entry or data manipulation, you can improve accuracy and reduce errors. It’s worth noting that automating simpler cases is generally easier than automating complex or unpredictable cases, so starting with the low-hanging fruit can be a good strategy.
6. Putting POM into Practice
Now that you have an understanding of the automation tool and programming language, it’s time to implement a design pattern. The Page Object Model (POM) is a design pattern that is widely used in web automation testing. It involves creating a separate class for each page of the application under test. Each class encapsulates the elements and actions that are specific to that page. Each class would contain the Locators for all of the elements on the page. Methods for performing actions on the elements, such as clicking, filling out forms, and submitting forms. Methods for asserting that the page is in the expected state.
Test framework design
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/drag-and-drop-using-playwright-c09aa99cfca
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/enhancing-web-testing-with-playwrights-evaluate-method-73615d4ffc9e
7. Third-party Integration
Integrating with various development tools and services can greatly enhance the efficiency and quality of Test Automation. In addition to ESLint and Prettier, consider integrating GraphQL for efficient data fetching, accessibility tools for ensuring an inclusive user experience, LightHouse for performance analysis, Jenkins for continuous integration and deployment, and Slack for seamless team communication and collaboration.
https://ceroshjacob.medium.com/the-vitality-of-accessibility-testing-ee8da17bcbf0
My recent publication compiled a comprehensive collection of 100 similar typescript programs. Each program not only elucidates essential Typescript concepts and expounds upon the significance of test automation but also provides practical guidance on its implementation using Playwright. This resource will undoubtedly be valuable if you look deeper into similar topics.
