What is the Cypress Testing Library?

Automated testing is a critical step in developing reliable applications because of the need to deliver applications more quickly to the market. As a result, there has been a sharp increase in demand for modernized automation solutions. 

Knowing the technology or framework to use when creating updated web applications is necessary. One such solution that makes an effort to address the fundamental issues that contemporary internet apps face is Cypress.

Cypress is in the remarkable position of being able to comprehend everything occurring inside and outside of the browser since it ultimately controls the complete automation process from top to bottom. This means that compared to other testing tools, Cypress can produce more reliable results.

This article aims to discuss why the Cypress testing library is one of the most widely used testing solutions. Let’s begin with what is a testing library, then we will proceed with Cypress.

Testing Library

Suppose testers want to create tests that inform them whether or not their user-facing components are functioning correctly, or when they wish to prevent changes to features from slowing down the team or breaking their tests. In that case, they avoid putting implementation details in their tests. A testing library is then required.

The testing library is a collection of tools that supports testers and provides confidence in user-centric testing of UI components. The family of libraries in the Testing Library offers a relatively simple way to test without having to worry about complicated implementations. The primary utilities it offers entail searching for nodes in a manner comparable to how users would do so. The more the similarity between the test and how the program is utilized, the more assurance they offer.

Why do we choose the Testing Library?

• By querying and interacting with DOM nodes, the main library’s Dom Testing Library offers a quick and easy way to test web pages.
• Among the key features it offers is querying the DOM for nodes like how users locate elements on a page.
• Angular, Vue, and React all have ergonomic APIs provided by the core library, which has been wrapped.
• Any environment that offers DOM APIs, such as Jest, Mocha + JSDOM, or a real browser, is compatible with the DOM Testing Library.

What is Cypress

A JavaScript-based end-to-end testing framework called Cypress is based on Mocha, a feature-rich JavaScript test framework that runs on and in the browser and makes asynchronous testing easy and convenient. End-to-end integration and component testing are performed using Cypress’s automated tool. 

It was created to ease QA teams’ common issues when testing web applications for quality assurance, to introduce developers to application testing, and to be made for the current web. To combine with any JavaScript testing framework, the Cypress testing library uses a BDD/TDD assertion library and a browser.

Cypress Framework features

The following are the two main features created explicitly for Cypress web testing:

• Automatic waiting – Cypress watches for the DOM to load, the XHR and AJAX calls to complete, the elements to become visible, etc. Therefore, it is not necessary to specify implicit and explicit waits.
• Real-Time Reloads – Cypress can recognize that the tester will rerun a test file (Xyz spec.js) once it has been saved. As soon as the tester saves their file, it automatically starts the run next to the browser. As a result, it is no longer necessary to manually start the run.
• Before running the subsequent commands, it waits for the test command to be automatically executed and applies assertions.
• It takes screenshots as the test case is running to aid in debugging.
• Since it offers interactive test execution using Test Runner and logs, test execution debugging is accomplished more effectively.
• It offers users faster and more accurate test execution due to differences in architectural design from other test frameworks.
• Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge are among the browsers supported by Cypress. Hence facilitates cross-browser testing.

Cypress Testing Library

The cypress-testing-library APIs are self-explanatory in terms of what they accomplish, which improves readability. Additionally, as these APIs are comparable to the DOM Testing Library, developers will gain from using the Cypress Testing Library API.

Both DOM nodes and jQuery elements are supported by the Cypress Testing Library. Cypress uses jQuery elements, but DOM Testing Library anticipates DOM nodes, therefore this is required. The first DOM node in the collection is selected when a jQuery element is passed as a container, and that node is used as the container parameter for the DOM Testing Library functions.

Types of Tests

Let’s first gain an understanding of the many types of tests that the Cypress test library contains.

Static tests- Look for problems in the code along with designing the documents and requirements that go along with it before it is run.

Unit tests- Examine a program’s code or component in total isolation. A unit’s test results are as expected.

Integration tests – Test how different units/components interact.

End to End tests – They mimic the user flow to see how it would look. Beginning to end is tested.

Why use the Cypress Testing Library for testing?

Debuggability

When troubleshooting, Cypress’s time travel debugging feature and the availability of Chrome/Firefox developer tools are a lifesaver. Since the Cypress tests are browser-based, developers can witness application messages, discover element locator details, navigate error stack traces, and do a lot more with the help of the robust browser DevTools. These crucial components of the framework help the test code remain stable and flaky tests and/or faults to be fixed quickly. As a result, debugging problems takes much less time.

Boosts application confidence

If all of the tests pass, it signifies that every component of the app is functioning properly, boosting application confidence. Additionally, this results in higher user satisfaction.

Tests can act as documentation

When working with larger teams, code can occasionally be highly complex, especially for new engineers. However, by examining tests, new developers can quickly comprehend what the team is attempting to achieve.

Cypress is all in one.

Writing end-to-end tests requires the coordination of numerous tools. Cypress is all in one. Cypress provides multiple tools. To set up a test suite, there is no need to install 10 different tools and libraries. Cypress combined a number of the industry’s top tools, many of which testers are already familiar with, to function flawlessly as a whole.

Cypress can be used on any front-end website or framework.

Cypress analyzes every program that works on a web browser. The entire architecture that surrounds Cypress is designed to operate very well with modern JavaScript frameworks. Additionally, Cypress performs just as efficiently on older server-rendered programs or pages. Only JavaScript is used to write Cypress tests.

Reduces QA time

Cypress makes end-to-end testing possible with test-driven development. It takes a long time to manually run a large application and incorporate a new feature. Cypress performs best when employed during application development. It gives programmers the ability to write code and execute tests as quickly as feasible.

Runs quickly

For the first time, the architectural upgrades make it possible to use Test-Driven Development (TDD) with complete end-to-end testing. Cypress is designed to allow for simultaneous testing and development. Because testers can see their application, and still have access to the developer tools, so that changes can be reflected in real-time, testers can create more quickly while controlling the entire development process using tests. 

In the end, the code will be better, have had thorough testing, and have undergone more development. Parallelization and automatic load balancing will further boost your test times if you use Cypress Cloud.

Running Cypress test on LambdaTest cloud platform

Whenever conducting Cypress tests it is advised to perform Cypress test cases on a variety of real devices, browsers, browser versions, and operating systems so that the real user situations may be taken into consideration for improved test results accuracy.

Additionally, while executing Cypress tests, integration with a variety of tools (and frameworks) including CI/CD systems, codeless automation tools, reporting tools, and more would be necessary.

This can be accomplished via a cloud-based platform like LambdaTest which allows users to run Cypress test cases by providing access to more than 3000 real devices, browser, and operating systems combinations for comprehensive automated cross-browser testing. Additionally, moving tests to Cypress cloud grid enhances test case execution performance while also increasing browser coverage overall.

QAs can leverage quick, hassle-free parallelization to generate faster results without sacrificing accuracy using the LambdaTest platform. By testing applications under actual user conditions with LambdaTest, developers can point out the flaws before users do.

Conclusion

Cypress is a fantastic solution for individuals who want to write relevant end-to-end tests quickly and easily. It has a promising future and offers its users a tremendous amount of innovation, usability, and productivity. It also makes problem-solving very simple thanks to its live preview, screenshots, videos, and images. You should start learning more about Cypress if you have not already.