CodeceptJS — open-source E2E testing framework with a special BDD-style syntax
I find it cool that you can write a test and then integrate many popular testing libraries, such as WebDriver, Puppeteer, Playwright and TestCafe, to execute it. This might be helpful when requirements change — such as testing on Safari browser that not all libraries support — and you need to use another one without changing the actual test syntax.
If you're interested in trying it out, Hari Bhandari wrote a handy guide on how to get started.
AutomationSTAR — Test Automation Conference, Berlin, 20-21 Nov
Early Bird Closing! Calling all test automation engineers, developers and testers that want to automate. Spark new ideas with automation experts from 25+ countries. Dive into various topics from test automation frameworks and strategy to tools such as Playwright, Cypress and WebDriverIO. Brought to you by the EuroSTAR Conferences team with over thirty years of organising software testing conferences. Register now!
PS. Use code SOFTWAREWEEKLY10 to save 10% on tickets.
What is Selenium better at than Cypress?
A simple question that sparked a huge discussion on Reddit. Well worth reading to find out what people think.
For example, Zhimin Zhan recently wrote about Why Raw Selenium Syntax is better than Cypress and Playwright, and he also responded to some Comments on the claims of "7 ways Cypress is different".
Note: If you can't access the full article, open it in a private tab or another browser.
Welcome to the 171st issue!
Since the beginning of this newsletter, I've featured well over 4,000 articles and other resources on software testing.
And they're all stored online.
So if you want to learn more about a particular topic you're interested in, simply use the Search function.
For example, here are the results for metrics, Playwright or test strategy.
Hope that helps you discover even more great news.
Happy testing! 🙂
Despite being one of the most popular and standardised tools for web automation, Selenium is challenged by newer tools such as Cypress and Playwright. However, Zhimin Zhan claims it's still the best tool for the job.
But if you want to try something else, Aravind Subbarao explains The Karate Advantage: 5 Compelling Reasons to Switch from Selenium for Test Automation.
Note: If you can't access the full article, open it in a private tab or another browser.
Welcome to the 238th issue!
I've just stumbled upon AI Test Reporter.
It's an open-source library created by Matthew Thomas that you can connect to a GPT model of your choice and generate human-readable summaries of test reports.
For example, here's how it works with Playwright tests.
It's a simple functionality for now but there's potential to get more insights that way. If you have any feedback, I'm sure that Matthew will appreciate hearing it.
So, happy testing! 🙂
Welcome to the 249th issue!
The results of the State of Frontend 2024 survey are here!
What's there for testers?
And on top of that, I'm positively surprised that developers are involved in testing in 87% of cases. That's impressive.
You can also read an insightful overview of Frontend Trends: What to Expect in 2025 based on that report, compiled by Andrzej Wysoczański.
Happy testing! 🙂
Welcome to the 20th issue of Software Testing Weekly!
It's been an amazing 20-week journey of delivering you only the best software testing news and I can only hope for more! Thank you very much for subscribing, reading and getting in touch. It means a lot to me and to the authors of those great resources that I link to every single week. 🙌
Someone asked on Reddit whether Selenium is dead. The post got a few answers and the general feeling is that no — it's not dead. Selenium is one of the best known and longest supported web testing tools with a chance of becoming a W3C standard. However, in recent years there was a rise of modern JavaScript-based testing tools — Cypress, TestCafe and Playwright to name a few. But it doesn't mean one has to replace the other. It's a healthy competition that gives us more high-quality tools that we can choose from. Just remember, as a tester your primary focus is to select the tool wisely, according to the problem at hand. Despite Jeremy Clarkson's belief, a hammer is not the ultimate tool. 😊
From other news, Zerodium — a company that pays out big money for finding software exploits — has recently announced that it's going to stop buying the iOS exploits due to oversupply. Yes, you read correctly. iOS 13 has been very buggy and it looks like the security researchers confirm this case. As an iOS user, I find the news disturbing. I don't expect Apple to publicly reply but I hope for the best response they can give — make the next version of iOS stable and secure. And with their new development process, this is likely to come.
Have a wonderful weekend!
