Getting started with automated end-to-end tests

Automated end-to-end tests are often criticized. In May 2024, DHH qualified them as “slow, brittle, and full of false negatives” in a post about systems tests and Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer) tweeted they are taxing to maintain both . But when implemented well, they can give you immense value for a small investment of time. I will explain why.

Think about the impact of your application being unavailable for even a short period of time. You either lose sales or waste time and damage your brand and reputation.

You also want to release features and fixes quickly and often . For that you need high confidence in your continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD).

Automated end-to-end tests ensure that new changes don’t break your critical user journey. They help you catch outstanding issues before they reach production. They are also a great first step toward automated deployments.

The key is to keep them simple and focused on the critical parts of your application. Test that your application is available. Test that your navigation and calls to action work.

Playwright is a game changer for automated end-to-end testing. With a focus on resiliency and a simple API, it’s the best tool to start with for most use cases.

I have written a guide to help you get started with automated end-to-end testing. You can find it here

I am always happy to chat about automation and end-to-end testing, so feel free to contact me!