How do you automate user interface testing with Cypress or Selenium?

1 What is Cypress?

Cypress is a modern, JavaScript-based testing framework that runs in the browser and integrates with your front-end code. It allows you to write clear, concise, and reliable tests that cover everything from unit testing to end-to-end testing. You can use Cypress to test any web app, regardless of the technology stack, and benefit from features like automatic waiting, real-time feedback, screenshots, videos, and debugging tools. Cypress also has a rich ecosystem of plugins and extensions that can enhance your testing capabilities.

2 What is Selenium?

Selenium is a popular, open-source testing tool that supports multiple languages, browsers, and platforms. It consists of several components, such as Selenium WebDriver, which enables you to control the browser and interact with the web elements, and Selenium Grid, which allows you to run tests in parallel on different machines. Selenium also has a large community of developers and testers who contribute to its documentation, support, and improvement. Selenium is widely used for cross-browser testing, regression testing, and performance testing.

3 How to choose between Cypress and Selenium?

Cypress and Selenium are both powerful and flexible tools for UI testing, but there are some differences and trade-offs that should be taken into consideration before choosing one over the other. Ease of use is one factor to consider; Cypress requires fewer dependencies, a simpler syntax, and a built-in test runner, whereas Selenium requires more configuration, installation, and maintenance. Additionally, the scope of testing differs; Cypress is mainly focused on front-end testing while Selenium can also handle back-end and API testing. Furthermore, Cypress is compatible with modern web technologies and frameworks such as React, Vue, Angular, and TypeScript. On the other hand, Selenium is compatible with legacy web technologies and frameworks like Java, C#, PHP, and Ruby. Finally, Cypress is more stable and reliable than Selenium; it has fewer flaky tests, timeouts, and synchronization issues compared to Selenium's reliance on external drivers and servers.

4 How to get started with Cypress?

To get started with Cypress, you need to install it as a dev dependency in your project using npm or yarn. Then, you need to create a cypress.json file in your root directory to configure your testing options. Next, you need to write your tests in the cypress/integration folder using the describe(), it(), and cy commands. Finally, you need to run your tests using the cypress open command, which will launch the Cypress Test Runner and display the results.

5 How to get started with Selenium?

To get started with Selenium, you need to install it as a dependency in your project using the language of your choice. Then, you need to download and install the drivers for the browsers that you want to test on. Next, you need to write your tests using the WebDriver, WebElement, and By classes, as well as a test framework and runner of your choice. Finally, you need to run your tests using the test runner or the command line and view the results.

6 How to compare and improve your tests?

To compare and improve your UI tests with Cypress or Selenium, you need to measure and evaluate their quality, performance, and coverage. You can use tools like Mocha, Jest, or Jasmine to generate reports and statistics for your tests, such as the number of tests, assertions, passes, failures, errors, and skipped tests. You can also use tools like Istanbul, nyc, or c8 to generate code coverage reports for your tests, which show how much of your code is executed by your tests. You can then use these data to identify and fix any gaps, bugs, or inefficiencies in your tests.