February 2020 Summaries

The blog post, authored by Stefano Magni and originally published on dev.to, critiques the challenges faced in UI testing, particularly highlighting the limitations of generic browser automation tools like Selenium and Puppeteer. It argues that these tools often complicate the testing process due to asynchronous user interactions, the complexity of debugging, and the disconnect between test runners and browser automation tools. Stefano introduces Cypress as a superior alternative, emphasizing its integrated UI, interactive time-traveling, automatic waiting, and detailed error reporting, which collectively enhance productivity and debugging ease. Unlike traditional tools, Cypress streamlines the asynchronous nature of front-end testing and eliminates the need for test timeouts, offering features like automatic screenshots and video recordings of test failures. The post conveys that Cypress, with its dedicated focus on UI testing, significantly simplifies the process, making it more efficient and user-friendly while also addressing common pitfalls encountered in front-end testing.

PlanGrid, a part of Autodesk, shared insights in a webcast on how their Automation Platform team maintains high-quality, mission-critical services by running over 900 Cypress tests daily across 20 development teams. The presentation highlighted their success in distributing maintenance tasks among teams, creating an internal library for custom Cypress commands and integrations, and achieving consistency across more than 20 repositories using shared functions and CI integrations. Engaging with a live audience via Zoom and YouTube Live, the team addressed questions, provided comprehensive slides, and encouraged feedback through a post-webcast survey. They also announced future webcasts and invited viewers to stay informed through their Twitter updates.

In a detailed blog post by Gleb Bahmutov, various strategies are outlined for working with iframes in Cypress testing, addressing the inherent challenges due to the security restrictions and limitations of DOM traversal commands. The post provides a comprehensive guide on interacting with DOM elements within iframes, including techniques to spy on and stub network requests, such as window.fetch and XMLHttpRequest, with practical examples using a static HTML page. It also discusses methods to manage cross-domain iframe access by altering browser security settings, and the use of custom commands to simplify repetitive tasks. Additionally, the post introduces a Cypress-iframe plugin developed by a community member, which offers simplified commands for handling iframes, showcasing how robust testing scenarios can be implemented by following these guidelines and utilizing available resources.

Cypress 4.0 introduces support for Firefox and the new Microsoft Edge browsers, a highly anticipated feature long requested by the community, enhancing the testing experience with the same quality users expect from Cypress. This update allows users to run tests across multiple browsers, prompting the need for a strategic approach to continuous integration (CI) to balance confidence, performance, and cost effectively. To assist with this, Cypress has launched a new Cross Browser Testing Guide offering recommendations for implementing the best CI strategy for different projects and teams. This release marks a significant milestone for Cypress, paving the way for future enhancements in testing capabilities. Users are encouraged to upgrade to version 4.0 and explore the new resources available, including the Cross Browser Testing Guide and Getting Started Guide for newcomers.