We are moving closer to an automated era. Every company, regardless of its size, aims to use automation testing as successfully as possible throughout its release cycles. Automation testing is the execution of tests using software or tools rather than a human. It is one of the best techniques to boost Software testing’s efficiency, test coverage, and execution speed. Simply said, automation testing greatly decreases the work required to validate repeating test scenarios.
It goes the same with the programming language JavaScript which ranks at the top regarding its popularity among other languages. It is one of the developers’ most widely used languages, including automation testers and engineers. As per the Stackoverflow Survey 2022, JavaScript results at the top thus it is unlikely that its popularity would decline in the immediate or far future.
To help engineers test applications and software, numerous JavaScript automation frameworks have been developed and emerged throughout time. It is natural, the more alternatives you have, the longer it will take you to choose the JavaScript Automation testing framework that best suits your needs.
Today, we will learn about test automation with JavaScript, along with some of the widely used and popular Automation testing frameworks based on JavaScript with some of their pros and cons, to help you better decide the best framework for your choice.
Automation testing with JavaScript refers to the testing of applications and software using the JavaScript language with some of the Automated tools and frameworks and scripts that are written with it. There are several other programming languages available like Python, C#, Ruby, Java, etc. that can all be used to write automated test scripts.
However, JavaScript is among the popular ones due to its diverse front-to-back support. It is renowned due to its simplicity of use in front-end and back-end development. The requirement for top-notch testing tools is partly a result of these changes throughout time.
JavaScript testing frameworks have appeared to serve a variety of needs; some are appropriate for unit testing while others are designed for E2E (End-to-End) testing. It is coherent why automated testers from all around the world have grown very fond of these JavaScript testing frameworks.
Importance of Test Automation with JavaScript
JavaScript is a programming language that can be used to automate tasks and processes in a variety of contexts. Here are a few examples of JavaScript being used for test automation:
Testing Web Applications: Using tools like Selenium or Protractor, JavaScript can be used to develop automated tests for online and E-commerce applications.
Testing APIs: Using tools like Postman or Supertest, JavaScript can be used to build automated API tests.
Testing Desktop Applications: Using tools like Electron or WinAppDriver, JavaScript can be used to generate automated tests for desktop applications.
Testing Mobile Applications: By utilizing tools like Appium or Calabash, JavaScript may be utilized to construct automated testing for mobile applications.
Testing command-line applications: Using tools like ShellJS or Chai-CLI, JavaScript may be used to generate automated testing for command-line programs.
Benefits of using JavaScript Test Automation
Widely used and well known: As JavaScript is a popular and well-known language among developers it makes it simpler to start utilizing it for test automation and to locate developers with JavaScript experience.
Low entry requirements: It is sufficient to get started with JavaScript automation testing if you know: the fundamentals of JavaScript, know how to find locators, and are familiar with page objects.
Large ecosystem of libraries and tools: There are numerous libraries and tools available for test automation that are accessible in the huge and well-established JavaScript ecosystem. This makes it simple to locate a solution that meets your unique requirements.
Scalability & Saves time: With JavaScript Test Automation the tests can be run repeatedly with no additional cost resulting in saving a lot of time and can scale in a matter of minutes. It simply requires adding more test executors to the test automation solution.
Asynchronous testing is supported: JavaScript’s asynchronous nature can be helpful for testing applications that depend on asynchronous behavior, such as those that use WebSockets or perform API calls.
Integration with Continuous Integration & Tools (CI/CD): JavaScript tests can be executed as part of the build and deployment process with the help of many well-known CI/CD systems, including Jenkins and Travis CI. This makes integrating test automation into the development process simple.
Limitations of Automation Testing with JavaScript
Lack of built-in support for test frameworks: There is no built-in support for test frameworks in JavaScript, due to which we have to select and incorporate a third-party framework like Mocha, or Jasmine.
JavaScript’s asynchronous nature: JavaScript runs code in a non-blocking way because it is an asynchronous language. As a result, it may be challenging to create tests that depend on the sequence of execution or to precisely forecast the status of the program at any given moment.
Limited support for GUI Testing: JavaScript is not a good choice for testing graphical user interfaces (GUIs), because it doesn’t offer a mechanism to interact with the GUI elements directly.
Lack of support for mobile Testing: JavaScript is not often used for testing mobile applications, since it is not supported by the majority of mobile platforms. To test mobile apps, we need to use a tool like Appium.
Dependance on Web Browsers: A web browser is frequently used to perform JavaScript tests, which can bring extra complexity and variability. The reliability of the tests may be impacted by how differently different browsers read and run JavaScript code.
Limited support for Integration testing: JavaScript is not well suited for testing integrations with external systems or APIs because it does not offer a way to easily mock or stub the dependencies.
Popular JavaScript-based Automation Testing Frameworks
JavaScript’s wide-ranging support for Front-end and back-end apps results in one of several factors contributing to its popularity. There are numerous automation frameworks available to choose from.
It is now vital to select the best JavaScript testing framework that meets our needs due to the growing number of available options. The best JavaScript testing frameworks for automated testing are:
Cypress
Cypress is a cutting-edge front-end testing tool designed for the contemporary web. Developers can create unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests using Cypress. Contrary to other test frameworks,
It operates as a Node server process, which means that it runs in the same event loop as our application under test. Other test frameworks make remote queries to the browser’s API or a standardized API.
Pros of Cypress:
Cypress is better able to produce results that are consistent.
It records an image after each test phase. This makes it possible for the developer to examine the state and activities at each specific test script step.
It enables direct modification of the DOM elements, such as enabling the display of hidden elements.
It has access to the front and back components, allowing it to change everything entering and leaving the browser.
Cons of Cypress:
Cypress is a less popular option when it comes to cross-browser testing because it is only accessible through Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Electron browsers.
It solely allows for the construction of test cases using JavaScript frameworks.
Cypress is not compatible with remote execution.
It does not by default support multiple browser instances or control more than one browser that is open at once.
WebDriverIO
WebDriverIO is an open-source framework for the automation testing of web applications. It is constructed on top of the WebDriver protocol, a specification for programmatically manipulating web browsers. It enables us to create and execute automated tests in a number of programming languages, such as JavaScript, TypeScript, and Python, for online applications. Its straightforward and user-friendly API makes it simple to design tests that are simple to understand and maintain.
Integration with numerous testing tools and frameworks, including Mocha, Jasmine, and Cucumber, is one of WebDriverIO’s primary advantages. As a result, we can pick the testing tools that most closely match our requirements and preferences.
Pros of WebDriverIO:
It supports a variety of programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, and Python, making it accessible to a wide range of developers.
Its easy-to-use and intuitive API makes it simple to create and maintain automated tests.
It contains a number of built-in commands and assertions that we can use to interact with web page elements and confirm the application’s intended behavior.
Cons of WebDriverIO:
Although it supports a wide range of web browsers, it doesn’t support all browsers. If we need to use an application on the browser that is not supported by WebDriverIO, we may need to use a different automation framework.
Dependant on browser updates: WebDriverIO depends on the WebDriver protocol to control web browsers which could be impacted by changes made to the protocol or the browser. This may cause issues with compatibility or require us to update the tests to accommodate these changes.
Playwright
Playwright test automation framework since its release in 2020 by Microsoft has gained popularity in part due to the fact that it is open-source and JavaScript-based. It is a Node.js package that offers fast, dependable, hassle-free browser automation.
It tweaks the Firefox and WebKit browser engines to allow support for its APIs rather than using their default APIs which makes it easy with just one API to test WebKit, Firefox, and Chrome.
Pros of Playwright:
Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit can all be automated using a single API.
Support for several languages: the Playwright API in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, .NET, and Java.
Capable of automation for single-page web applications.
Cons of Playwright:
Ruby version of the Playwright API is not yet available.
At the moment, only the most recent releases of Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit are supported. The playwright might not be the ideal choice if you need to test on earlier iterations of these browsers or on different browsers.
Complexity: Playwright is a comprehensive automation framework, that allows us to test a wide range of functionality and scenarios. This may make it more difficult to use than other automation frameworks, which might be more straightforward yet offer fewer features.
Protractor
Protractor is a framework for end-to-end testing of Angular applications. It enables us to quickly test the behavior and functionality of the Angular app and is built on top of Selenium.
In order to use Protractor, we first needed to install Node.js and create a configuration file that describes the application’s location as well as any other test-specific information. After that, we can write the tests in JavaScript using the Protractor API. Chai and Jasmine are just a couple of the assertion libraries that are supported.
Pros of Protractor:
Protractor automatically synchronizes the test actions with the Angular application, so you don’t have to worry about waiting for the page to render or for items to load.
Protractor allows for the simultaneous execution of many tests, which cuts down on the time needed to complete the test suite.
We can quickly combine Protractor with continuous integration tools like Jenkins to run tests as part of the build and deployment processes.
Testing Angular apps is relatively simpler by its built-in support for Angular-specific elements such as `ng-repeat` and `ng-bind`.
Cons of Protractor:
It only supports Chrome, Firefox, and Edge at the moment, which might not be enough for testing programs that must work with a variety of browsers.
It does not presently offer a mechanism to test mobile applications, thus if we need to test the app on a mobile device, we will need to use another tool.
It uses Selenium to manage the browser, which might add complexity and maintenance burden.
Puppeteer
Puppeteer is another Node-based automated testing library that offers an API that enables users to manipulate Chrome by altering the default DevTools protocol. It is not truly a cross-browser testing solution because it only supports Chrome and Chromium.
The Puppeteer team and Mozilla developers have collaborated to make the Firefox nightly builds compatible with Puppeteer as well. For developers who simply need to support Chrome and Chromium, Puppeteer is the preferred test automation framework.
Pros of Puppeteer:
It allows the users to mock resources, preventing concerns with speed, consistency, and reliability.
It offers a straightforward setup. Puppeteer is easy to set up; we just use npm to install it in the project and begin automating.
It offers several benefits that are Google-Chrome friendly.
It comes with active community support.
Cons of Puppeteer:
The main drawback of Puppeteer is that it only functions with Chrome.
We need to rely on other frameworks to test the application across different browsers if the project requires that it be cross-browser compatible.
Jest
Jest is a popular open-source test-automation framework that was initially created by Facebook for testing JavaScript-based applications, including React, React Native, and other apps. When executed on any software’s front end, unit tests frequently don’t produce reliable results. Jest helps to solve this problem by enabling us to create front-end tests more quickly and effectively.
Jest serves as a full-stack testing framework that enables us to create tests for JavaScript library projects like AngularJS, VueJS, NodeJS, Babel, and TypeScript. It includes an integrated mockery library, an assertion library, and a test runner.
Pros of Jest:
Due to the fact that it includes mocking support and an assertion library, it offers an out-of-the-box experience with minimal preparation and setup.
Jest is regarded as a very effective and well-documented JavaScript testing framework.
It provides strong development tools with less prone to errors in code.
By taking screenshots, the framework can also run visual regression testing.
Cons of Jest:
It does not support a lot of tools or libraries, which might occasionally be hard for debugging the test cases in IDEs that do not support Jest.
For larger snapshot files, Jest snapshot testing is not as practical.
TestCafe
TestCafe is an open-source project that serves as a proxy server and injects the testing code. In actual use, it runs a test case that puts a developer-specified URL to the test; TestCafe then changes the developer-specified URL to the proxy server’s URL by injecting the HTML and JavaScript required to run the test. The test case is then carried out after this page is sent to the browser.
Developers can use client scripts and client functions when a more sophisticated level of interaction is required. Additionally, TestCafe automatically waits for page objects to load, reducing the work required of developers to access specific web page parts.
Pros of TestCafe:
TypeScript and JavaScript are both compatible with TestCafe. Working with TypeScript is preferred by those who like strongly typed languages.
It offers flexible community support.
Several desktop browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Internet Explorer, are supported.
Cons of TestCafe:
All user actions cannot actually be automated because TestCafe does not manage the browser.
In this article, we’ve learned about the use of JavaScript in test Automation along with some of the well-known automation testing frameworks based on JavaScript. Each of these frameworks has a unique set of benefits and drawbacks.
In conclusion, automation testing provides a lot of benefits with JavaScript and selecting the best testing framework is only going to depend on the project requirements and the team’s expertise.
Aakash Rao
A Frontend Developer and Technical Writer based in India who loves to create and share knowledge on the Internet and the community.
I am a community guy who loves to connect and interact with fellow developers and enthusiasts.
Alongside, I love to listen to podcasts and read books with a keen passion to explore other fields such as Graphic design & VFX.
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10 January 2023 
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BY Aakash Rao
