How can you ensure your JavaScript tests are reliable and maintainable?

Selection of the tools is indeed an important factor for testing JavaScript code. First analyse which type of testing you want to do. If it's integration testing, always choose tools that provide visuals like cypress, etc. If you want to do the unit testing, there are a couple good options for you as well like Jest, etc. Selection of the tool always depends on the requirements of the project.

To ensure that your JavaScript tests are reliable and maintainable, consider the following best practices: 1. Write clear and descriptive test cases: Clearly define the purpose and expected behavior of each test case. 2. Follow the Arrange-Act-Assert pattern 3. Use a testing framework or library: Leverage popular JavaScript testing frameworks or libraries such as Jest, Mocha, or Jasmine. 4. isolate tests and use mocks or stubs 5. Employ test-driven development (TDD) 6. Maintain a consistent test environment 7. Use meaningful assertions 8. Regularly run tests and automate test execution 9. Provide good test coverage 10. Refactor and maintain tests 11. Continuously review and improve tests

We need to focus on testing the general behavior of the screen to make sure everything is displayed and works correctly. Aesthetics and spell checking is arguably out of this scope. 1. We have to understand the different selectors available in our test lib (getElement, findElement, findAllElements, etc..) 2. Acknowledge there are async or reactive elements that need to be awaited for 3. Use the appropriate matchers. Getting elements by role or displayed text may be preferred. Being too specific on ids and class names makes it harder to maintain 4. Look for cache issues and state / auth persistance. We need to clean our test enviroment so we don't run into unexpected behavior. It's no rocket science after all!

Use a testing framework: Choose a popular testing framework like Jest, Mocha, or Cypress Write isolated tests: Test individual components or functions in isolation to ensure they work as expected. Readability: Use clear and descriptive names for your tests, so you can easily understand what they're testing. Test that your code handles errors and edge cases correctly. Use mocking and stubbing: Use libraries like Jest's `jest.mock()` or ` sinon` to mock and stub dependencies, making your tests more efficient and reliable. Integrate your tests into your CI/CD pipeline to ensure tests run automatically on every code change.. Regularly review and update your tests to ensure they're still relevant and accurate.

Structure your test cases according to the Arrange-Act-Assert pattern, where you set up the test environment (Arrange), perform the action being tested (Act), and verify the expected outcome (Assert). This helps maintain clarity and consistency across your tests. ?Arrange: Prepare initial conditions and setup. ?Initialize variables, objects, and dependencies. ?Set up the test context and any required mock data. ?Act: Execute the action or behavior being tested. ?Invoke the function or method under test. ?Trigger the specific event or interaction. ?Assert: Validate the expected outcomes. ?Verify that the action resulted in the expected changes. ?Use assertions to compare actual results against expected results.

Having unit tests run every merge request - automatically - helps catch regression bugs very early. Also reduces the amount of searching needed when you do find a bug that isn't caught by unit tests.