Introduction
While building a product, testing is one of the most important factor to integrate with your product, to make it performant and reliable. This is simply because most of the bugs and issues can be detected at the root, before your code goes to production.
There are many types of tests, each with its own purpose, today let us find out more about end-to-end testing and why you might need it as you build your product.
What is End to End testing?
End-to-end (e2e) testing helps you mimic an end user and see how they would run through your application and find if there are any bugs.
It is an important aspect of software development because it helps ensure that the various components of a system work together as intended and can handle real-world scenarios. It allows developers to catch and fix any issues that may arise when the different parts of the system are integrated, ensuring that the final product is reliable and meets the requirements of the users. E2E testing helps identify issues that might not be discovered through unit testing, which only tests individual components in isolation.
Why do you need E2E testing?
Let’s consider you are building an e-commerce website and the user flow diagram for login and registration looks like this:
For a normal development cycle, you write the code for registration and test it. Once a user has registered and created an account, you need to test for login. This cycle will continue for every new change or after every update in case you find a bug. A software development process like this can lead to a lot of stress, cost more and can even cause a bug in production in the worst case.
And that’s why you need e2e tests!
With e2e testing, all you need to do is write a script for the e2e test. This is script is linked to the deployment pipeline. This means once the website is built and these tests will run in multiple browsers.
For our example, the script will check whether the path changed to /login. For a new user journey, depending on the scripts you wrote, new tests will be done on multiple browsers on the CI server.
With this, you don’t need to check again and again after every change if anything breaks, because the script will do that for you!
How are E2E Tests beneficial?
Complex systems: E2E tests can help ensure that all the components of a complex system are working together as expected.
User acceptance testing: E2E tests can be used to confirm that the system meets the requirements and expectations of the end users.
Regression testing: E2E tests can be used to catch any regressions (i.e., unexpected changes or regressions in functionality) that may occur when new code is added or existing code is modified.
Integration testing: E2E tests can be used to confirm that different components of the system are properly integrated with each other.
In general, E2E tests can provide confidence that the system is working correctly and is ready for deployment.
E2E testing cant thus help improve the overall quality of the software by identifying problems that might not be immediately apparent during development, such as performance issues or security vulnerabilities.
This can help reduce the number of defects in the final product, leading to a better user experience and more satisfied customers.
What are the popular tools for E2E Testing?
As you might have noticed, testing largely depends on the scripts written by you. All the problems associated with writing e2e test cases can be easily solved using Keploy. Keploy is an open source e2e testing toolkit for Developers that creates test-cases and data mocks from API calls, making releases faster and highly-reliable.
Cypress.io, Playwright and Selenium are some more E2E testing tools that you can explore for your application.
Overall, e2e testing is an essential part of the software development process that helps ensure that the final product is reliable, functional, and meets the needs of the users.
| Feature | Keploy | Cypress | Playwright | Selenium |
| Test Case Generation | Automatic creation from API calls | Requires manual test script writing | Requires manual test script writing | Requires manual test script writing |
| Data Mocking | Built-in data mocks from API calls | Does not natively support mocking | Supports mocking but requires additional setup | Does not natively support mocking |
| Ease of Use | Developer-friendly, simplifies test setup | Easy to set up, with an intuitive UI | Slightly complex but powerful | More complex setup, less user-friendly |
| Browser Support | Supports multiple browsers via integration | Primarily focused on Chromium-based browsers | Supports multiple browsers (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit) | Supports all major browsers |
| CI/CD Integration | Integrates well into CI/CD pipelines | Seamless CI/CD integration | Integrates with CI/CD tools | CI/CD integration possible but may require more configuration |
| Performance Testing | Limited focus on performance testing | Not primarily focused on performance testing | Supports performance testing | Can be used for performance testing with proper setup |
| Community Support | Open source with growing community | Strong community and support | Growing community and support | Large, established community |
Conclusion
Well, that’s a wrap for now. I hope you folks have enriched yourself with some known or unknown concepts today, and cleared any misunderstanding regarding these topics. I wish you a great day ahead and till then keep learning and keep exploring!!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
What is end-to-end (E2E) testing?
E2E testing is a software testing technique that validates the entire application flow, simulating user interactions to ensure all components work together as expected.
Why is E2E testing important?
E2E testing helps identify issues that may not surface during unit testing, ensuring that the complete application functions properly before going live.
How does E2E testing differ from other testing types?
Unlike unit testing, which tests individual components in isolation, E2E testing evaluates the system as a whole, covering interactions between various modules and external systems.
What are the key benefits of E2E testing?
E2E testing provides assurance that the application meets user requirements, identifies integration issues early, and enhances overall software quality.
When should I perform E2E testing?
E2E testing is particularly useful during major releases, after significant code changes, or when new features are added that impact existing functionalities.
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