🌐 Strengthen Your React App Testing: RTL Queries
Tags: webdev, javascript, beginners, programming
Published: 2024-06-26 09:01:41

Today, we'll see the essentials of using React Testing Library (RTL) queries, providing code examples to enhance your testing skills.

Understanding RTL queries is crucial for writing effective, maintainable tests for your React components, ensuring they behave as expected in various scenarios.

Many developers struggle with RTL queries due to the variety of options and the nuances in selecting the most appropriate query for different situations.

##  The Importance of RTL Queries

**React Testing Library queries are designed to help you interact with your components in a way that closely resembles how users would.**

This approach improves test reliability and readability. Let's dive into some key queries and their applications.

Different queries serve different purposes. Here’s a quick breakdown:

-** getBy**

- **queryBy**

- **findBy**

## getBy

Returns the first matching node for a query. It throws an error if no elements match.

**getBy queries are perfect for asserting that an element is present**.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/o8tgsau8my8qya1gk6go.png)

## queryBy
Returns the first matching node for a query, but returns null if no elements match.

**queryBy queries help when asserting that an element is not present.
**

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8bivwba3sphd6pvy3ff1.png)

## findBy
Returns a promise which resolves when an element is found, or rejects if no element is found after a timeout.

**findBy queries are useful for asynchronous elements that may not be immediately available in the DOM.
**

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rcb9h1snx4hrn69www9c.png)

## getAllBy, queryAllBy, and findAllBy

In addition to the individual queries, React Testing Library provides variants that return multiple elements.

**These variants are useful when you need to interact with or assert the presence of multiple elements matching the same criteria.
**

## Using getAllBy

The getAllBy query returns an array of all matching nodes. If no elements match, it throws an error.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mmv7z3oofxjwspb64tcn.png)

## Using queryAllBy

The queryAllBy query also returns an array of all matching nodes but an empty array if no elements match instead of throwing an error.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/to4jxnbyxe7yo04y4r33.png)

## Using findAllBy

The findAllBy query returns a promise that resolves to an array of all matching nodes. If no elements match, the promise is rejected.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/y1ddjnhw4mudpddxuuxv.png)

## Takeaways
Choose the different queries based on the context.

- **Use getBy to assert that an element is present.**

- **Use queryBy to assert that an element is not present.
**
- **Use findBy for elements that may appear after some delay.**

- **Use getByAll, queryByAll, and findByAll for handling scenarios involving multiple elements.**

For more detailed information, check out the RTL Cheatsheet and Queries documentation.

## Conclusion

**Mastering React Testing Library queries is a crucial step in writing robust and maintainable tests for your React applications.
**
By choosing the appropriate query and understanding their use cases, you can write tests that are both reliable and easy to understand.

Please, comment on your thoughts. Your thoughts are valuable to contribute to the front-end development field. All are welcome! I want to hear them.

Keep up the good work! :)