Which E2E Tool to Use with React?
Tags: react, playwright, testing, javascript
Published: 2024-06-18 14:34:04

When it comes to testing the end-to-end (E2E) integration of web applications, choosing the right tools is crucial to ensure comprehensive test coverage and optimal software quality.

I found this sentence online and it seems the most suitable given our context.

> "If your test is difficult to write, your design is bad" - Randomly Software Engineer

That's why I decided to do a brief analysis, a bit closer, of some of the main E2E tools available on the market and their characteristics.

However, the entire analysis will be based on their compatibility with React.

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After various analyses, the ones I found primarily used were:
 - Playwright
 - Cypress
 - SauceLabs
 - Testim
 - Puppeteer + Jest


![e2e testing tools](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/8k3813qm8pna3mj6jd0a.png)

## Playwright
Playwright is an open-source automation library that allows testing web applications across different browsers and devices. 
It is suitable for use with JavaScript React and offers a wide range of features for automating tests.

### Strengths
- **Multi-browser and multi-device**: supports testing on a wide range of browsers and devices, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and mobile devices like iPhone and Android.
- **Execution speed**: it is known for its fast execution speed due to its efficient automation engine.
- **Powerful API**: It offers a powerful and flexible API that allows writing complex and high-quality tests.
- **Snapshot testing**: Supports snapshot testing to allow visual comparison of user interfaces.
- **Automated regression testing**: Playwright's automated tests can be integrated into the CI/CD pipeline to check that the new code has not broken existing functionality.
- **Parallel testing for faster execution**: It is able to run multiple tests simultaneously to reduce execution time.

### Weaknesses
- **Steep learning curve**: The learning curve might be steep for new users due to its flexibility and power.
- **Non-web applications**: Playwright is specifically designed for web applications. 
- For native desktop or mobile native application testing, other tools would be more suitable.
- **Limited resources / Simple projects**: Not suitable for simple web projects, the overhead of setting up and maintaining Playwright might not be justified.

## Cypress
Cypress is a modern end-to-end testing framework designed specifically for web applications. 
It offers a comprehensive set of features for writing, running, and debugging tests in real-time, including the ability to perform mocking.

### Strengths
- **Ease of use**: Cypress is known for its ease of use and simplicity in configuring and writing tests.
- **Real-time testing**: It offers the ability to see the test in real-time during execution.
- **Simple debugging**: It has built-in features for debugging tests, making it easier for developers to identify and fix issues.
- **Mocking and stubbing**: Cypress offers built-in features for mocking and stubbing network requests.
- Using the **cy.request()** command, Cypress isolates API interactions, facilitating a clearer separation between UI and API interactions.

### Weaknesses
- **Limited browser support**: Currently, browser support is limited to Chrome and Firefox.
- Cypress's **cy.request()** focuses on response mimicking and does not provide detailed network interaction control.

## SauceLabs
Sauce Labs is a cloud-based platform for automated testing of web and mobile applications. 
It offers a wide range of features for running tests in parallel, testing on different browsers and devices, and integrating with continuous integration (CI) tools.

### Strengths
- **Cloud Testing**: Sauce Labs offers the ability to run tests on a wide range of devices and browsers in the cloud.
- **Compatibility**: It offers excellent compatibility with a wide range of browsers and devices, including mobile devices.
- **Parallel and distributed**: It allows parallel and distributed execution of tests, reducing overall execution times.
- **Integration with CI/CD**: It is well integrated with continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) tools.

### Weaknesses
- **Cost**: It may be costly compared to other solutions, especially if running tests on a large number of browser/device configurations.
- **Complex setup**: Initial setup may be complex due to its cloud-based nature.

## Testim
Testim is an AI-driven testing platform that automates the creation, execution, and maintenance of tests. 
It uses AI to analyze application behavior and generate test scripts automatically.

### Strengths
- **AI-driven testing**: Testim uses artificial intelligence to help create, execute, and maintain tests automatically.
- **Ease of use**: It is designed to be easy to use, with an intuitive interface that allows writing tests quickly.
- **Automatic test creation**: It can automatically record user actions and generate tests based on these actions.
- **Test versioning**: It offers built-in test versioning, allowing tracking of test changes and iterations.

### Weaknesses
- **Limited manual control**: Since it is AI-driven, it may not offer the desired level of manual control for some use cases, difficult to customize.
- **Cost**: Testim may also be costly, especially for smaller companies or projects with limited budgets.

## Puppeteer & Jest
Puppeteer is a Node.js library developed by Google that provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome or Chromium instances. 
It is suitable for testing React applications, especially in end-to-end testing scenarios that require interaction with the browser's DOM.

### Strengths
- **Full control over the browser**: It provides a high-level API that allows full control over headless Chrome or Chromium instances. 
This enables to perform a wide range of tasks, including navigation, interaction with the DOM, form submissions, and more.
- **Support for modern web features**: supports the latest web standards and features, making it suitable for testing modern web applications built with technologies like React, Angular, Vue.js, etc.
- **Integration with Chrome DevTools**
- **Headless mode**: can run Chrome or Chromium in headless mode, which means it operates without a graphical user interface. 
This makes it ideal for running tests in headless environments such as continuous integration (CI) pipelines.

### Weaknesses
- **Limited cross-browser support**: is primarily designed for testing with Chrome or Chromium browsers. 
While it can be used with other browsers via the WebDriver protocol, support for non-Chromium browsers may be limited.
- **Resource-intensive**: requires the installation of a full Chrome or Chromium browser, which can consume significant system resources, especially when running multiple instances in parallel.
- **Steep learning curve**: Puppeteer's API can be complex, especially for beginners. Users may need to invest time in learning how to use Puppeteer effectively for their testing needs.

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In the next article, we will compare 2 of these technologies to see which one might be a better choice based on our context.
I hope the article was helpful, let me know if you know of other similar tools or if you use one different from those mentioned :)

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## End
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