And so, it happened!
Playwright surpassed Cypress in weekly NPM downloads.
But that's not all.
Since 2023, three main trends emerged:
Of course, it's only the JavaScript versions. Both Playwright and Selenium also support other languages, e.g. C#, Java and Python, which are not reflected here.
But it's a strong indicator of what tool is becoming testers' choice.
And if you want to learn more, Filip Hric and Jonathan Canales had an interesting discussion about it.
So, with that in mind, enjoy the 225th issue! 🙂
How low-level API calls can stabilize your end-to-end tests
Who said end-to-end tests for the web have to focus solely on the UI? Nico Domino shows a great example of leveraging Playwright features to support such tests with API calls.
100+ ways to write a JavaScript test automation project
This is huge! Girma Nigusse put together over a hundred combinations of JavaScript UI testing frameworks and tools. Cypress, TestCafe, Nightwatch, Playwright, Protractor, Puppeteer, Selenium, WebdriverIO — they're all there! See the full list here.
What tools do you consider the best for purely backend testing automation?
Someone asked the community what test setup could be used for testing databases and APIs — and people came up with many recommendations.
And in another thread, someone's looking for advice on which tool to use: Selenium? Cypress? Playwright?.
Bulletproof Your Automated Testing: Why Data-* Attributes Trump CSS Selectors
Nikolay Advolodkin advises adding data-* attributes to HTML elements (e.g. data-test-id) to make testing easier, more effective and less flaky. By the way, this approach is also recommended by modern test frameworks, such as Cypress and Playwright.
API Testing Showdown: Postman vs Pytest
If you're curious how API testing with GUI tools compares to purely code-based solutions, here's a great overview by Nikita Belkovskiy.
Furthermore, Amr Salem shares some Tips & Tricks: Intuitive API Testing With Playwright.
How to handle Cypress flaky tests
If you're dealing with flaky Cypress tests, here are some tips by Balaji Kumarasamy on what you can do to improve them.
Balaji also wrote a similar guide on How to handle Playwright flaky tests.
With the rise of modern test tools and frameworks, one may wonder whether it's time for Selenium to go away. This thread contains a lot of fair answers.
On that note, Butch Mayhew asks: Will Playwright Replace Cypress?
