Cypress Vs Selenium- How To Select The Right Testing Tool?

Both cypress testing and Selenium testing are automation frameworks for web app testing. Selenium is a conventional solution, while Cypress is developing. Cypress supports JavaScript, while Selenium supports various languages. Cypress supports end-to-end testing. Selenium does too but further proposes security and unit testing.

Selenium is without suspicion the de-facto test automation framework for cross-browser testing and it has been for multiple years. However now, Cypress is increasing traction. With dozens of different frameworks that were created on its protocol, WebDriver, momentum in the market is rising for Cypress.io. In this blog, we will explore Cypress vs Selenium and explain some of the objectives that can help teams decide which option is right for them also we will look at selenium drivers, back end testing, and selenium testing framework.

Selenium and Cypress Testing

First, let’s describe what Selenium and Cypress testing are and what they propose to practitioners. Selenium is a test automation tool that facilitates creators to automate web browser testing. The Selenium WebDriver protocol helps to send commands in many development languages such as Java, C#, JavaScript, Python, and others from the test environment (IDEs) to a chosen desktop browser like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari.

Each of the browsers has its WebDriver that is a reliance for the test to be apt to communicate and operate the mandatory actions such as click, assert, swipe, etc. As a prominent solution, Selenium assists as a foundation to widespread test frameworks like WebDriverIO, Protractor, and others, as well as mobile app testing frameworks like Appium. Glancing at the market movements around adoption and downloads, it is evident that Selenium is a crucial enabler for browser test automation. We can also notice the development in the adoption of Cypress testing that has passed WebDriverIO in the volume of downloads.

Cypress Testing Automates

For web applications, cypress is a JavaScript test automation solution. It facilitates teams to build web test automation scripts. This answer aims to stimulate frontend developers and test automation engineers to compose web tests in the de-facto web language i.e., JavaScript. Cypress further supports the Mocha test framework so the inner technologies in which you would formulate your web test automation are Java Script on top of Mocha.

Why should you consider Cypress?

If you’re glancing for Selenium alternatives, there are other choices for you. Selenium is the steering automation framework for web testing, but it’s not your only option. Cypress is also a developer-focused framework and is a good choice for Selenium. Cypress has restricted integrations, but you don’t have to bother about a problematic environment setup with it. It further boasts adequate documentation and a rising community.

How to get started with Selenium Cross-Browser Testing

Cross-Browser TestinG

Also Read: Cypress Automated Testing

Getting started with Selenium test automation is relatively simple. It expects a local or cloud-based setup of a Selenium Grid, Selenium WebDriver for the browsers you want to test against, and improved skills in the multiple WebDriver supported languages. To get begun with local Selenium, navigate to the Selenium home page, download the pertinent web drivers, and put up the IDE environment with related development languages.

An easy local Selenium script would look like this:

package com.perfecto.sample project;

            import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

            import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

            import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

            import org.testng.annotations.Test;

            public class LocalSelenium {

                        @Test

                        public void main() {

                                    //Note: Download chromeDriver for 

windows and update the following if running from Windows.

System.setProperty(“webdriver.chrome.driver”,System.getProperty(“user.dir”) 

+ “//libs//chromedriver”);

                                    //A sample chrome driver script to 

access a perfecto website and verify the title

                                    WebDriver driver = new 

ChromeDriver();

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

driver.manage().timeouts().pageLoadTimeout(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

driver.get(“https://www.perfecto.io”);

                                    String aTitle = driver.getTitle();

                                    System.out.println(aTitle);

                                    //compare the actual title with the 

expected title

                                    if 

                                    {

                                                System.out.println( 

“Test Passed”) ;

                                    }

                                    else {

                                                System.out.println( 

“Test Failed” );

                                   }

                                    driver.close();

                                    driver.quit();

                        } 
 

            }

A sample Selenium project code in Java would be like this:

Package com.perfecto.sample project;

            import java.net.MalformedURLException;

            import java.net.URL;

            import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

            import org.openqa.selenium.Platform;

            import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;

            import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;

            import org.testng.annotations.Test;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.client.ReportiumClient;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.client.ReportiumClientFactory;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.model.Job;

            import 

com.perfecto.reportium.model.PerfectoExecutionContext;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.model.Project;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.test.TestContext;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.test.result.TestResult;

            import com.perfecto.reportium.test.result.TestResultFactory;

            public class PerfectoSelenium {

                        @Test

                        public void main() throws MalformedURLException 

{

                                    //Update cloudName variable with 

your perfecto cloud name

                                    String cloudName = 

System.getProperty(“cloudName”);

                                    //Update security token variable with 

your perfecto security token.

                                    String security token = 

System.getProperty(“securityToken”);

                                    String browserName = “mobileOS”;

                                    DesiredCapabilities capabilities = 

new DesiredCapabilities(browserName, “”, Platform.ANY);

capabilities.setCapability(“securityToken”, securityToken);

capabilities.setCapability(“platformName”, “Android”);

                                    RemoteWebDriver driver = new 

RemoteWebDriver(new URL(“https://” + cloudName + 

“.perfectomobile.com/nexperience/perfectomobile/wd/hub”), capabilities);

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

driver.manage().timeouts().pageLoadTimeout(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

                                    // Reporting client. For extra 

details, see https://developers.perfectomobile.com/display/PD/Java

                                    PerfectoExecutionContext 

perfectoExecutionContext;

                                    if(System.getProperty(“reportium

-job-name”) != null) {

                                                perfectoExecutionContext 

= new PerfectoExecutionContext.PerfectoExecutionContextBuilder()

.withProject(new Project(“My Project”, “1.0”))

.withJob(new Job(System.getProperty(“reportium-job-name”) , 

Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty(“reportium-job-number”))))

.withContextTags(“tag1”)

.withWebDriver(driver)

.build();

                                    } else {

                                                perfectoExecutionContext 

= new PerfectoExecutionContext.PerfectoExecutionContextBuilder()

.withProject(new Project(“My Project”, “1.0”))

.withContextTags(“tag1”)

.withWebDriver(driver)

.build();

                                    }

                                    ReportiumClient reportiumClient = 

new 

ReportiumClientFactory().createPerfectoReportiumClient

(perfectoExecutionContext);

                                    try {

reportiumClient.testStart(“Perfecto mobile web test”, new 

TestContext(“tag2”, “tag3”));

reportiumClient.stepStart(“browser navigate to perfecto”);

driver.get(“https://www.perfecto.io”);

reportiumClient.stepEnd();

reportiumClient.stepStart(“Verify title”);

                                                            String 

aTitle = driver.getTitle();

System.out.println(aTitle);

                                                            //compare 

the actual title with the expected title 
 

throw new RuntimeException(“Title is mismatched”);

reportiumClient.stepEnd();

                                                //STOP TEST

                                                TestResult testResult = 

TestResultFactory.createSuccess();

reportiumClient.testStop(testResult);

                                    } catch (Exception e) {

                                                TestResult testResult = 

TestResultFactory.createFailure(e);

reportiumClient.testStop(testResult);

                                                e.printStackTrace();

                                    } finally {

                                                driver.close();

                                                driver.quit();

                                                // Retrieve the URL to 

the digital zoom Report

                                                String reportURL = 

reportiumClient.getReportUrl();

System.out.println(reportURL);

                                    }

                        }

            }

The given script will solely validate the page title and report back conclusions to the reporting dashboard. The same script above could be also enforced against a local desktop machine through the ChromeDriver or others that test creators would set up. Cypress is a tremendous growing tool. It is quick to ramp up with and delivers a good performance environment that is baked in. It is completely JavaScript/MochaJS oriented with certain new APIs to alleviate the scripting.

On the other hand, Selenium is a developed framework covering many browsers with various development languages. And it functions well within a grid to scale testing. The component of test flakiness is ambiguous between the two tools. Some would assert that Cypress testing produces more powerful and valid test scripts, while Selenium professionals can give good practices to conquer such problems.

Which is better – Cypress or Selenium?

When it reaches discussing Cypress vs Selenium, we suggest that teams begin exploring Cypress to recognize if it can complete their existing Selenium scripts and thrive their overall test coverage and stability. If you already have a decent working Selenium suite that is reliable and covers sufficient functionality, there is no real necessity to switch tools. If you are beginning a current project, maybe having a simple POC with Cypress can prove to be a satisfactory future solution for you.

Also Read: A Complete Guide to Cypress Automation