Optimizing End-to-End Testing: Strategies for Speed, Reliability, and Efficiency

The best practice of high -efficiency end -to -end test

Overview of the end test

end -to -end (E2E) test aims to simulate real user interaction (such as clicking button, entering text, page navigation, etc.) to run the application. These tests are very useful for checking whether the entire workflow runs as expected. For example, in e -commerce applications, the E2E test can simulate the complete purchase process: select products, add to shopping carts, registered credit cards, and complete the checkout process. Through testing the real scene, the E2E test helps to ensure that the key functions of the application are well collaborated.

Background

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Recently, in one of my projects, we are facing the task of restoring some old, skipping E2E tests. When dealing with these tests, we found some opportunities to improve. Many tests can be merged or rewritten in a more efficient way, and we realize that the method of implementing the method of restoring databases for each test is greatly increased. In addition, we have also determined the potential of some test scenes in parallel, which can further optimize our test process. These observations have prompted us to focus on improving performance, such as merging and optimizing test cases, using parallelization, and re -considering our database recovery strategy. In this article, I will share these strategies, mainly based on my experience in using Playwright as an E2E test tool. However, these technologies are likely to apply to most E2E test frameworks.

Test parallelization

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Cross -file parallelization

Piano -chemical testing is one of the most effective ways to speed up the execution of the E2E test, especially when the test kit is increasing. Through the operation of multiple tests at the same time, you can use the system's resources more effectively and significantly reduce the total operation time.

In our project, we allocate Playwright to use 5 work processes by default. Each work process runs a test file independently, and up to 5 tests can be performed at the same time. The following is our setting method:

This simple change has led to a significant improvement of test execution, because multiple tests can run concurrently.

However, due to side effects, some tests need to be rewritten. For example, some tests created or modified other tested resources. When these tests run parallel, their execution order sometimes leads to failure because the sharing state is not correctly managed.

<code>// playwright.config.js  
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';  

export default defineConfig({  
  workers: 5, 
});  </code>

Test in the file in parallel

In addition to the parallelization test across multiple files, we also found that it can be enabled in parallel execution in a single test file. This method is particularly useful when you have multiple independent testing groups in the same file and want to further optimize the execution time.

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In Playwright, this can be achieved by packing the test in

. All the tests in this block will be executed at the same time:

<code>// playwright.config.js  
import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';  

export default defineConfig({  
  workers: 5, 
});  </code>

According to the experience of our cross -file parallel testing, the key principles remain unchanged:

• Avoid side effects: ensure that the test is completely independent, and will not share or modify the resources in a way that may interfere with other testing;
Wisewly reuse resources:
• Effectively manage shared resources (such as browser instance or test data) to prevent disputes or conflicts during parallel execution. This technology can bring a significant acceleration to large test files, but it also needs to carefully plan to maintain test reliability and avoid unstable results. Through isolation testing and effectively managing resources, you can make full use of parallel execution in the file.

Pre -certification

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Pre -certification is a key step to ensure that each test is consistent and effective. This technology does not need to repeatedly perform login operations for each test, which significantly improves the speed and reliability of the test, especially when performing testing in parallel.

This method involves the use of PlayWright's ability to use

, which stores session information of pre -certified users (for example, cookies, local storage). By restoring this state at the beginning of each test, the user has logged in and allows testing to focus on the verification function, not the navigation login process.

storageState This method ensures that each test is operating independently to prevent cross -pollution of session data. The pre -certified ensure that the testing steps are skipped, saving valuable time, while maintaining the consistency of the kit.

<code>test.describe.parallel('Group of parallel tests', () => {  
  test('Test 1', async ({ page }) => {  
    // Test logic here  
  });  

  test('Test 2', async ({ page }) => {  
    // Test logic here  
  });  
});  </code>

Of course, you need to consider some challenges, such as ensuring that

files always use effective session data updates. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the reusedability of the auxiliary function to avoid tightly coupled data or risk code that may endanger the maintenance and reliability of the test kit. storageState

The best practice of E2E test .auth/${email}.json

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In order to maximize the efficiency of the E2E test:

Prefer testing isolation:

Ensure that testing is independent and avoid sharing status as much as possible;

Maximum dependencies:

Pre -certification and reusable auxiliary functions can reduce redundancy and improve test reliability;
• Monitoring pipeline performance: regularly check the test operation time and resource utilization rate to identify bottlenecks or optimization opportunities;
• Balanced coverage and execution time: Focus on covering the key workflow without using unnecessary testing to overload the pipeline.
• By following these best practices, you can build a powerful, scalable and efficient E2E test framework. This framework provides reliable results and saves time and resources. Although challenges such as side effects and maintenance of reuse code need attention, the benefits of good optimized E2E kits far exceed the effort to pay. If these practices are implemented carefully, they will pave the way for more effective and reliable testing processes, so as to be able to deliver high -quality software faster.
Conclusion

• Optimizing E2E testing is an ongoing process that involves balancing performance, reliability, and coverage. By leveraging techniques such as test parallelization, pre-certification, and careful resource management, you can significantly improve test execution time without compromising accuracy. While challenges such as side effects and maintaining reusable code require attention, the benefits of a well-optimized E2E suite far outweigh the effort. These practices, if implemented thoughtfully, will pave the way for a more efficient and reliable testing process, enabling the delivery of high-quality software faster.

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