5 Best Practices for Writing Selenium Tests with Jest

In this modern app development market, it is almost impossible to create test cases without the involvement of automation testing. Therefore, the developers and testers must begin transitioning to this advanced form of web application development. One of the primary reasons to justify the use of automation testing practices is the complexity of modern apps. This is because the users want a one-stop solution where the application must simultaneously access multiple elements. To ensure the proper implementation of this process, the developers must test the functioning of the individual and combined applications. Various automation frameworks like Selenium help developers to perform this process. The combination of automation testing tools like Jest will improve the testing process.

This article will deeply examine the benefits of integrating Selenium testing with Jest. We will also closely look at some of the best practices that can help the developers properly utilize the full potential of this combination. Finally, we will discuss the influence of various tools and platforms in this process.

Understanding the Base of Selenium

Selenium is one of the dominant names in automation testing practices. This is because there was no alternative to Selenium during the earlier years of automation testing. However, with the advancement of technology, many new options like Cypress and Playwright have come to the market. However, since the initial introduction of Selenium in 2004, it has managed to maintain one of the top spots to date. One interesting fact about Selenium is that it was initially known as the JavaScriptTestRunner due to its close association with this well-known programming language.

One of the common misbeliefs regarding Selenium is that it is a standalone tool for automation testing. However, the reality is that Selenium is a test suite consisting of multiple different tools. Each tool in this suite has a unique purpose in the application development process.

We will learn more about the individual functions of these tools in the latter part of this article. While we’re on the topic of Selenium, it is essential to mention that a major drawback of this test suite is that the developers can only use it for initiating automation testing on web applications. Considering the diversity of the modern app market consisting of multiple apps like native apps, hybrid apps, and even cross-platform apps, this limitation can massively hamper the development capabilities of an app company.

Since its initial introduction, Selenium has undergone four updates to improve its functioning and adds additional features for improving the testing process. Now let us discuss the primary uses of all the tools present in the Selenium test suite:

• Selenium Grid: A unique tool that helps developers to execute the Selenium-based automation test cases in a parallel testing format. With the help of parallel testing, the developers can initiate and execute multiple test configurations and parameters simultaneously. This is a fundamental process as it helps to increase the efficiency of the testing process by multiple times.

• Selenium WebDriver: It is often considered one of the critical components of the Selenium test file. This is because, with the help of the Selenium WebDriver, the developers can begin the testing process and allocate them to the target elements of a web application. After the Selenium four update, the Selenium WebDriver improved efficiency and became more straightforward.

• Selenium IDE: With the help of this tool, the developers can interactively create Selenium automation test cases. This means the developers must use the application like a normal user for the test case creation process. The system will automatically continue generating test cases based on the uses.

Understanding Jest

In simple terms, we can define Jest as a JavaScript testing framework that helps developers to ensure the proper execution of a JavaScript code base. JavaScript is often regarded as one of the app development industry’s most widely used programming languages. Therefore, the integration of Jest can help the developers to improve the test coverage of their company massively. Some of the most efficient features of the Jest framework are the ability to create feature-rich API test cases and witness the results quickly. Jest also helps the developers maintain an interactive activity log for referencing. This activity log also allows the developers to conduct the debugging process efficiently.

Moreover, some of the additional features of the Jest framework include a built-in mocking library and a test runner. The simplicity of this framework is beneficial for developers new to this industry. Jest is often considered an ideal tool for testing JavaScript library projects, including View JS, Node JS, Angular JS, and Typescript.

Best Practices for Selenium Testing with Jest

It is very easy to integrate the Selenium test bench with Jest. However, while conducting the integration process, there are various factors that developers must keep in mind. These practices would help the application developers, and testers avoid surprises during testing.

Based on our analysis, some of the best practices regarding Selenium testing with Jest are as follows:

1. Before integrating Selenium testing with Jest, the developers must create a proper testing strategy. This strategy will comprise all the test cases conducted during the application testing lifecycle. It is also one of the best practices to separate the test cases according to their priority.

2. The developers must have access to proper tools and platforms that can help them during that Selenium testing integration process. Cloud testing platforms like LambdaTest have native support for integrations like this. We will learn more about the role of tools and platforms in the latter part of this article.

3. The app development company must integrate Agile methodologies in its test bench. Agile methodologies can help improve the coordination between a company’s development and testing teams. It also helps to enhance the productivity of the company as a whole.

4. When integrating Selenium testing with Jest, the developers must have access to real devices. This is because it is almost impossible to verify the proper performance of the applications without verifying it on real devices. It has become even more important as the diversity of the market continues to rise every day. For reference, we can consider that more than a thousand new Android devices come to the market annually. However, the developers can eliminate the huge expenses of the physical device lab with the help of cloud testing platforms.

5. While performing Selenium-based automation testing with Jest, the developers can consider writing the test cases in a behavior-driven development approach. While integrating behavior-driven development, the testers can write the test cases in a simple English language that anyone can understand without any coding knowledge. This is essential for bridging a company’s business and development teams. With this practice, the developers can collaborate with all the teams, as everyone will have an idea about the progress of the app development project.

Role of Tools and Platforms in Selenium Automation Testing

The automation testing process can be even more complex for developers who are new to this industry. Tools and platforms can help developers to simplify the overwhelming automation test cases. The developers and testers will realize that hundreds of tools and platforms are available on simple market analysis. Moreover, specific platforms help developers add testing features to improve their efficiency. For instance, various cloud-based platforms eliminate the need for physical devices in the company. This is because, with these platforms, the developers can initiate and execute the test cases on real devices over the web. Let us learn more about cloud testing by turning our attention toward LambdaTest as a reference:

To begin the introductory process, we can say that LambdaTest is a cloud-based tool that helps developers to initiate secure cross-browser testing processes on modern web apps. Considering the present market status, we can easily say that cross-browser testing has become the new standard of ensuring that you provide the best user experience to your customers. This is because, with cross-browser testing processes, the developers can ensure optimal performance irrespective of changes in device hardware, browser version, or system configuration. LambdaTest also has various unique features like parallel test execution for further improving this testing process.

With this platform, the developers can import the automation test cases from various frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright. It is worth mentioning that while working with Selenium test cases, the developers can conduct the testing process on more than 3000+ browser combinations. Moreover, the integration of real devices along with existing sets of emulators and simulators helps to improve the accuracy of the testing process massively.

Final Verdict

Considering all the points discussed in this article, we can easily say that Selenium-based automation testing is essential to modern application development. Many experts believe that automation testing trends will continue to gain additional importance in the future app development market. So we recommend all application developers keep themselves updated with all the latest automation testing trends.

This will help them improve the quality of the test cases and maintain their company’s position in the competitive application development segment. The app developers can also conduct seminars to spread adequate knowledge about all the automation testing practices. Lastly, the developers must understand that using proper tools and platforms has a massive role in improving the quality of the automation test bench.