Cypress: The Modern Solution for Efficient Web Test Automation

What is Cypress? 

Cypress's unique architecture allows it to easily interact with site elements, emulating human behavior and providing immediate response. As a result, testing is completed more quickly and reliably and the debugging process is more efficient. 

Cypress's user-friendly interface and extensive feature set make it an appealing option for guaranteeing the functionality and quality of your online applications, regardless of whether you are an experienced automation testing service provider or are looking for web test automation services. 

Key Features of Cypress 

Cypress stands out as a top choice for web test automation because of its outstanding set of capabilities that expedite the testing process and improve overall performance. Let's look at some of its key features: 

• Time Travel: Cypress's unique time travel feature enables you to rewind and analyze your application's state at any point during test execution. This streamline debugging and root cause investigation, saving crucial time. 

• Automatic Waiting: Cypress effectively manages asynchronous behavior in web applications, waiting for items to become available and actions to finish. This eliminates the need for manual waits, resulting in more consistent and fewer flaky testing. 

• Real-Time Reloads: Watch your tests run in real time while you make changes to your application code. This quick feedback loop speeds up development and promotes a test-driven approach. 

• Network Traffic Control: Cypress's network stubbing and mimicking capabilities allow you to completely manage network requests and answers. This allows you to easily test different situations and edge cases. 

• Debugging Tools: Cypress provides several debugging tools, including images, videos, and the ability to walk through test execution. These features enable you to identify and fix problems quickly. 

• Cross-Browser Testing: Cypress enables cross-browser testing, guaranteeing that your application works smoothly across numerous platforms. 

These important capabilities, together with Cypress's user-friendly interface and strong architecture, make it an excellent choice for automation testing service providers and enterprises looking for fast web test automation services. Cypress allows you to produce high-quality web apps with assurance. 

Cypress vs. Selenium: Key Differences 

Cypress Architecture 

Cypress architecture is illustrated in the below diagram −  

Cypress automation testing runs on a NodeJS server. Cypress utilizes the WebSocket protocol to establish a connection between the browser and the Node.js server. WebSockets provide full-duplex communication, allowing Cypress to transmit real-time commands from the test code to the browser, such as URL navigation, element interaction, and assertions. It also allows Cypress to collect browser feedback, such as DOM snapshots, console logs, and other test-related data, and send it back to the server. 

Let’s break down the components and how they interact:  

1. User Interaction: The process starts with a user interacting with the web application. This could involve actions like clicking buttons, selecting values from drop down, filling forms, or navigating through pages.  

2. Cypress Test Scripts: Developers create test scripts using JavaScript or Typescript. These scripts simulate user interactions and verify that the application behaves as expected.  

3. Cypress Runner: The Cypress Runner executes the test scripts. It interacts with the web application, capturing screenshots and videos during the test.  

4. Proxy Server: A proxy server sits between the Cypress Runner and the web application. It intercepts requests and responses, allowing developers to manipulate them.  

5. Node.js: Cypress runs on Node.js, providing a runtime environment for executing JavaScript/or Typescript code.  

6. Web Socket: Web sockets protocol enables real-time communication between the Cypress Runner and the web application.  

7. HTTP Requests/Responses: In the architecture diagram you can see HTTP requests (e.g., GET, POST) and responses exchanged between the Cypress Runner and the application server.  

How Cypress Test Execution Works:  

• The user interacts with the web application.  

• Cypress test scripts send commands to the Cypress Runner.  

• The Cypress Runner communicates with the proxy server.  

• The proxy server forwards requests to the application server.  

• The application server processes requests and sends back responses.  

• The Cypress Runner captures screenshots and videos during the test.  

• Developers analyze the test results to ensure the application functions correctly. 

Getting Start with Cypress Testing  

Install Cypress  

To start with Cypress testing we need to set up Cypress first. To create a new project for Cypress automated testing, we have to follow the below steps 

• Install Node.js: Cypress requires Node.js to run. Download and install Node.js from the official website (https://nodejs.org) if you haven’t already. Ensure you have Node.js version 16 or above.  

• Create a new project: Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where you want to set up your Cypress project.   

• Create a project, let’s name it cypress_testgrid  

• Initialize a new Node.js project: Start a new Node.js project by entering the commands below, and a package.json file will be generated.  

• Install Cypress: Run the below command to install Cypress as a development dependency: npm install cypress –save-dev OR yarn add cypress –dev. In the below screenshot, you can see Cypress is installed successfully  

• One cypress is installed you can see the latest version in package.json, as of today when I am writing this article the latest version of cypress is 13.7.1  

• In the above screenshot, we can see Cypress is installed. Now run the below command to open the Cypress runner and execute the test cases – yarn cypress open OR npx cypress open. You will see the below screen, select E2E Testing from the below screenshot. 

• Follow the wizard and finally, you will see the screenshot below with default test cases provided by Cypress.  

Folder structure of Cypress Framework  

The below screenshots demonstrate how Cypress creates a default folder hierarchy when it first launches. Below is a detailed description of each of these files and folders that Cypress framework has.  

Below table summarizes the purpose of each directory and file within the Cypress project.  

Cypress Best Practices 

Every tool has best practices that can help maximize its effectiveness and efficiency. Below are a few of Cypress's best practices: 

Avoid Unnecessary Wait 

Suppose you have a scenario where you want to test the visibility of an element after clicking on a button. Instead of using a static cy.wait() command, which introduces unnecessary waiting time, you can use Cypress commands like cy.get() with assertions to wait for the element to become visible. 

Set baseUrl In Cypress configuration File  

Hard coding the baseUrl using cy.visit() in the before() block of each spec file is not the best approach. With the baseUrl set in the configuration file, Cypress will automatically prepend this base URL to any relative URLs used in your tests. Here’s how you can use cy.visit() with a relative URL in your test files: 

For example, in your cypress.config.js file, you can set the baseUrl to the login page URL  

Multiple assertions per test Cypress  

Writing a single assertion in a test can make it run more slowly and lead to performance problems. The recommended practice is to add multiple assertions with a single command, which speeds up testing and improves test clarity and organization. In the example below, you can see we have multiple validations in a single command. 

Isolate it () blocks  

Isolating it() blocks is indeed a best practice in Cypress (as well as in other testing frameworks). Each it() block should be independent and self-contained, with its own setup and teardown steps. This ensures that tests can run independently of each other, making them more robust and reliable. Here’s how you can isolate it() blocks in Cypress:  

Keeping test data separate  

Keeping test data separate is indeed a best practice in Cypress. Separate data files are easier to update and manage, especially when dealing with a lot of test data. You can reuse the same test data across multiple tests if applicable. Cypress allows you to define test data in external JSON files called fixtures. This keeps your test code clean and separates concerns between test logic and test data. 

Use Case of Cypress 

(Testing a Complex User Registration Flow) 

A web application includes a complex user registration process with multiple steps, such as verifying email, setting up a profile, and selecting preferences. The application also integrates with external services for email verification and user data validation. The team needs to ensure that the entire registration flow functions correctly and handles various scenarios, such as successful registration, invalid inputs, and integration failures.  

Challenges  

• Complex Flow: The registration process involves several steps, requiring accurate simulation of user interactions and system responses.  

• External Dependencies: Integration with email verification services and external APIs introduces variability that can affect test reliability.  

• State Management: Handling user state across different steps and ensuring consistent data between test runs can be challenging.  

• Debugging Failures: Identifying the root cause of failures in a multi-step process can be difficult without effective debugging tools.  

Outcome  

• Increased Test Coverage: Cypress effectively automated the whole registration process, resulting in thorough coverage of the complicated user flow. 

• Reliable Tests: By imitating external services, the team was able to create more stable and reliable tests while limiting reliance on other systems and network concerns. 

• Efficient Debugging: Cypress' debugging tools enabled the team to swiftly discover and address issues, increasing the overall testing efficiency. 

• Enhanced Confidence: The automated tests ensured that the registration procedure worked as intended across many circumstances, resulting in increased trust in the application's resilience and usability.  

Overall, using Cypress for this complex user registration flow resulted in more efficient testing, better handling of external dependencies, and quicker identification of issues, ultimately contributing to a more reliable and user-friendly application. 

Conclusion 

Cypress has evolved as a strong and fast solution for automating web tests. Its distinctive design, real-time reloading, and comprehensive feature set make it an excellent choice for assuring the quality and dependability of modern online applications.  

Cypress may help you achieve better test coverage, debugging capabilities, and trust in your online apps. Its user-friendly interface and solid design make it suitable for both experienced testers and newcomers to automation.

As the digital world grows, Cypress emerges as a modern option for effective web test automation, allowing you to design and manage high-quality online applications that suit the needs of today's consumers.