You may have put in a lot of effort in developing your application so that it provides the most advanced and effective features. But, it can crash anytime due to internal bugs, incapability to handle huge traffic, or not being planned for unknown handling by users.
However, all such issues can be demolished just by testing your application with different parameters.
Software testing is all about creating numerous test cases with different conditions so that they can ensure if every functionality of your application is working properly for whatever choices the users make, the application and the server are capable of handling huge traffic, and if there is any bug in the code working in the background, etc.
Here, we are going to discuss Cypress, one of the largest names in the field of testing tech products.
Cypress is an extraordinary front-end testing framework that enables you to easily create powerful, efficient, and flexible test cases for modern web applications. Its entire test suite is designed to work together seamlessly, providing a comprehensive solution for web application testing.
It is very popular due to its advantages like providing easy test configuration, convenient reporting, efficient dashboards, etc. for both unit tests and integration tests.
The best part about Cypress is that it is written in JavaScript, based on Node.JS, and runs on Mocha, which is another JavaScript. Hence, it provides amazing flexibility by allowing you to install it through the npm module and write the tests in JavaScript. As it bundles with jQuery (JavaScript Library), you can use several jQuery methods to identify & simplify HTML DOM tree traversal & manipulation, event handling, CSS animation, and Ajax.
There are plenty of testing tools or frameworks available in the tech world.
Hardly any QA engineer will deny Selenium as a great choice of testing framework. Then what makes the world accept cypress automated testing as a better choice over most of the other competitors?
Well, the following benefits will surely make you aware of the reasons behind Cypress's popularity as one of the most efficient testing frameworks.
You must come out of a terrible myth about Cypress that it is capable of running JavaScript-friendly web applications. The reality is that any web application built with Django, Ruby on Rails, Laravel, etc. can easily be tested using Cypress test file.
Also, the massive set of programming languages supported by Cypress includes PHP, Python, Ruby, C#, etc. However, commonly, the Cypress tests are written in JavaScript but beyond that, it works on any application irrespective of programming language.
The above-mentioned advantages of Cypress tests clearly depict the positive side of using them. But, to understand the reasons behind the domination of Cypress over such a popular tool Selenium, you must check out the following table.
From this table, we can easily get the idea that on most of the grounds of comparison, Cypress excels easily over Selenium. Hence, you can understand why the world prefers Cypress over Selenium as a better testing framework.
As we previously mentioned, most testing tools or frameworks run remote commands across the network and operate outside the browser. But, we have seen that the Cypress engine overtakes all other powerful competitors by operating inside the browser. That means it makes your browser capable of executing the test code by itself.
Cypress architecture is capable of listening to and modifying the browser behavior at run time by manipulating DOM and altering Network requests & responses on the fly. With Cypress, you get complete control of testing your application from both the front-end and back-end.
The Node server runs behind Cypress on the client-side, creating a way for interaction with it. The Node server accompanies Cypress in carrying out tasks to support the test execution. As Cypress has access to both the front-end and the back-end of the application, the responsiveness to the application in real-time during execution is well accomplished. Hence, it makes it possible for Cypress to perform tasks that run even outside the browser.
Cypress performs significant roles related to the network layer and the commands to be executed. It interacts with the network layer, and reads & changes the web traffic to capture commands. The HTTP requests and responses are sent by Cypress from the Node server to the browser. Because of being operational in the network layer, Cypress takes part in modifying the code that might interfere with the automation of the web browser. The WebSocket handles the communication between the Node server and the browser.
Crucial responsibilities like running all the commands inside and outside of the browser are completed by Cypress. As it is installed in the local machine, it can easily interact with the operating system to record videos, capture snapshots, access the network layer, and perform file system operations. Also, it becomes advantageous for Cypress to access everything from DOM, window objects, local storage, network layer, and DevTools.
Whereas in Selenium, the drivers of the browsers interact with the browser instances for the execution of the commands, Cypress executes commands directly into the browser automation APIs. Also, Cypress supports a huge set of browsers including Chrome, Canary, Electron (default), Mozilla Firefox browsers (beta support), Chromium, and Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) browsers. And, Cypress even provides you with unbelievable benefits in the form of the following tests -
Hence, if you are using Cypress in a more efficient way with Preflight Cypress Recorder, stay relaxed about the fulfillment of your testing pyramid needs.
The two main components of Cypress are Test Runner and Dashboard. And, as their names suggest, they are the prime requirements for running the test cases on your local machine and controlling the runs & status from the automation site.
We have jotted down some descriptions and features of the two components below.
Test Runner: It is an awesome component that has an interactive runner to provide the users with amazing benefits while the tests are running. It allows you to see the commands as they are getting executed while you can also check out the application under test in real-time. The below-mentioned subcomponents of the cypress test runner provide us with several small yet significant benefits during the execution of the test cases.
Till now, we got to know a lot about Cypress including its features, architecture, why it is better than Selenium, etc. But, that information will be of no use if you do not know how to use it. Well, the conventional form of using Cypress consists of some steps. However, PreFlight's Cypress Test Recorder makes the entire process much simpler than we have discussed later in this article. Now, let's check out how Cypress is traditionally installed and set up.
Well, Cypress is a testing framework. Hence, naturally, it will require a few other tools to set up a suitable environment for it. That's why you need to take care of the following prerequisites before proceeding with the installation of Cypress.
So, let's get to know about the installation process of Node.js and Visual Studio Code (the IDE that we have discussed here).
macOS is a highly preferred operating system in the field of software development and testing. Hence, let's proceed with how you can install Node.js on Mac.
1) Visit https://nodejs.org/en/download/ to check out the latest versions of Node.js and go on with downloading the suitable one for your device.
2) Click on the macOS installer and a package file will get downloaded. Then click on the pkg file to start the installation.
3) Clicking on the .pkg file will open the Node installer. The introduction page will let you know about the Node.js and npm versions to be installed. Click on “Continue” to proceed further.
4) A window will appear asking whether you agree or disagree with the Software license agreement. Click on “Agree” to proceed to the next step.
5) Now, the “Installer” will ask for access to the files in your “Downloads” folder. Click on “OK” to continue.
6) Here, you will be asked to select the destination where you want to install Node.js. The recommended approach is to select the destination according to your system space. However, here I am selecting the default installation location.
7) In this window, you have to click on the “Install” button. Then the installer will ask for your User password. Enter the password and click on the “Install Software” button.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Node.js and the npm package on your Mac machine. Now, click on “Close” to finish the installation and close the installer window.
As we are done with installing Node.js on our machine, it's time to install our code editor or IDE Visual Studio Code. VS Code is one of the most popular and powerful IDE that comes with all the in-built functionalities of JavaScript.
Let's get on with knowing the step-by-step process for downloading and installing it.
1) The first step to installing VS Code on your Mac is to download it. For that, navigate to https://code.visualstudio.com/download and download the suitable version for your device.
2) Clicking on the “Mac” icon on the download page will start downloading a package.
3) The package is usually downloaded in zipped format. Click on it to unzip it. After unzipping, you can see the Visual Studio Code in your Downloads in Finder.
4) With this, you have finished installing your code editor too. Now, click on the VS Code icon to open it.
Creating A New Cypress Project
As you have finished setting up the prerequisites for using Cypress on your local machine, it's time to create your first Cypress project. So, let's begin with it.
1) First, you have to create a new Node project in Visual Studio Code. For that, click on the VS Code icon and you will be redirected to the Welcome page. Now, you have to click on the “Add Workspace folder to create a new folder.
2) Now, a pop-up will appear asking you to add a new folder. Select the location where you want to add the workspace. Then click on “New Folder”, add the folder name as per your choice, and click on “Open”.
Now, as we are done creating a folder for our Cypress test, we can start writing our tests. But, before that, we have to install the package.json file. So, let's first get to know a brief about it.
The Package.json file holds all npm packages in a file. The common location of this file is the root directory of the Node.js project. All the necessary metadata for the project is usually stored in this file. The responsibilities of the Package.json file include supplying all the information to npm, identifying the project, and handling dependencies. Important information like project name, versions, license, dependencies, etc. are stored in the package.json file.
Now, as we have got a good idea about the package.json file, let's check out how to download and set it up in VS Code.
1) As we have to execute a series of commands, we need to open the terminal from the “Terminal” option on the top of the VS Code. Clicking on that option will open a dropdown menu from where you have to select the “New Terminal” option.
2) After the terminal opens, type the below-mentioned command in the project directory and press “Enter”.
npm init
3) After you press “Enter”, a window will appear asking you to type some details. Then you need to enter those details in the terminal as mentioned below.
4) Now, as you have finished entering the details, you have to proceed further. For that, press “Enter” and the terminal will display the details entered by you. It will also ask for confirmation. Then you have to type “Yes” and press “Enter” again to move ahead.
This completes the generation of a package.json file. The file will be displayed in the code editor along with the information provided by us.
Now, we are done with setting up the prerequisites for downloading Cypress, Node, and also initializing npm. So, it's time to download Cypress. Let's check out the ways to do that.
To install Cypress, you have to pass the below-mentioned command in the Terminal along with passing the same command in the project directory to install the node and generated the package.json file.
npm install cypress --save-dev
Passing this command will initialize the download of all necessary dependencies for the project. You can now see the latest version of Cypress getting installed. It can be verified by the downloaded representation in Terminal and the addition of devDependencies in the package.json file.
Another method of downloading Cypress is there if you do not want to face the hassle of using the Node or npm package in the project. This method provides an advantage of downloading Cypress directly from their CDN but, it brings one disadvantage too which is the incapability of recording the tests in the dashboard.
You can simply download Cypress by clicking here. This will get the zip file downloaded. After the download is complete, you can easily run Cypress by opening the zip file and double-clicking it. There is no need for the installation of dependencies in this method. And, another great benefit of this method is that it will always provide you with the latest versions of all relevant functionalities. However, experts recommend downloading Cypress via npm as a better choice than the direct download method.
Till now, you got to know about the conventional methods of downloading and installing Cypress and you clearly got the idea that no matter how simple a process looks. But do you know that a small browser extension can make you generate efficient Cypress test codes within seconds?
With Cypress Test Recorder from Preflight, you can set up your tests once through a simple interface and as soon as you are done completing the steps you want to test, you have its most efficient Cypress code to start with. Just add the extension to your browser by clicking here and start creating your Cypress tests as simply as shown below.
So, as you can see, generating Cypress test codes with the Cypress Test Recorder is so easy that you will feel like you are navigating through a social media page. This amazing tool by Preflight uplifts your testing experience with the following benefits -
So don't just stay tempted by these amazing functionalities. Get started with this amazing Cypress Test Recorder from Preflight.