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Cypress vs Protractor: What are the differences?
Cypress and Protractor are two popular end-to-end testing frameworks for web applications. Let's discuss the key differences between them.
Installation Process: Cypress requires a separate installation process as it has its own binary that needs to be installed globally or locally. Protractor requires the installation of Selenium WebDriver and browsers/drivers separately, as it uses them to control the browsers.
Syntax and Test Structure: Cypress uses a JavaScript-based syntax that is executed directly in the browser. It provides a built-in fluent API for easy test creation and execution, making it easy to interact with and perform assertions on elements. Protractor uses the WebDriver syntax, which is a bit more complex and requires a separate setup for configuring the WebDriver and browser instances.
Visibility and Control: Cypress has complete control and visibility of the application under test, allowing direct access to all DOM elements as it runs directly in the browser. It provides built-in waiting mechanisms and real-time reloading on code changes. Protractor operates from outside the browser using the WebDriver, so it has limited control and visibility into the application. It relies on implicit and explicit waits to handle timing issues.
Cross-Browser Compatibility: Cypress currently only supports Chromium-based browsers, limiting the cross-browser compatibility options. Protractor supports a wider range of browsers through the use of WebDriver, allowing testing on multiple browser platforms.
Debugging Capabilities: Cypress provides an extensive set of debugging tools like time-travel, which allows stepping through each command and inspecting the application's state at any point. Protractor relies on the browser-specific debugging tools and developer console for debugging purposes.
Architecture and Execution: Cypress runs directly in the browser and operates on the same run-loop as the application, making it easier to debug and profile test runs. Protractor runs tests in a separate process (Node.js) and communicates with the browser using WebDriver, which introduces some additional overhead and complexity.
In summary, Cypress and Protractor differ in their installation process, syntax and test structure, visibility and control over the application, cross-browser compatibility, debugging capabilities, and architecture and execution.
In the company I will be building test automation framework and my new company develops apps mainly using AngularJS/TypeScript. I was planning to build Protractor-Jasmine framework but a friend of mine told me about Cypress and heard that its users are very satisfied with it. I am trying to understand the capabilities of Cypress and as the final goal to differentiate these two tools. Can anyone advice me on this in a nutshell pls...
I've used both Protractor and Cypress extensively. Cypress is the easier and more reliable tool, whereas Protractor is the more powerful tool. Your choice of tool should depend on your specific testing needs. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each tool:
Cypress advantages:
Faster
More reliable (tends to throw fewer intermittent false failures)
Easier to read code (handles promises gracefully)
Cypress disadvantages:
Cannot switch between browser tabs
Cannot switch to iFrames
Cannot specify clicks or keypresses explicitly as if a real user was interacting
Cannot move the mouse to specific co-ordinates
Sometimes has trouble switching between different top-level domains, so not good for testing external links
Cypress is a newer tool with less extensive documentation and less community support
Protractor advantages:
More powerful because it is Selenium-based - it can switch between tabs, it can handle external links to other domains, it can handle iFrames, simulate keypresses and clicks, and move the mouse to specific co-ordinates within the browser.
More extensive community support and documentation
Protractor disadvantages:
Slower and more brittle - in general there is a higher likelihood of cryptic and/or intermittent errors which may cause your tests to fail even though there is nothing wrong with your application
For highly experienced automation engineers, the fundamental "brittle" nature of Selenium can be worked around - it can be reliable but only if you really know what you are doing
Less graceful handling of promises - relies on async/await or .then to manage the order of execution. Therefore it is a bit harder to read the code.
Harder to set up, and the method of setup impacts its reliability. For example, a hub/node configuration where the selenium jar is on a different physical machine than the browser under test will cause unreliability in your tests. Not everyone knows about this type of thing, so it's common to find Selenium frameworks that are set up poorly.
It's probably better to use Cypress if
you're at a smaller company and have a close relationship with developers who can help write hooks or stubs in their code to assist your testing
you don't need to do things like switch between tabs or test links to external top-level domains
It's probably better to use Protractor if
You might need to switch between tabs or test external links to other domains within the scope of your framework
You want to use a more accurate simulation of how a real user interacts with a browser (i.e. click at this location, type these keys)
You're at a company where you won't have any support from developers in writing hooks or stubs to make their code more testable in a less powerful framework like Cypress
Please try Handow, the e2e tool basing on Puppeteer.
Gherkin syntax compatible
Chrome/Chromium orentied, driven by Puppeteer engine
Complete JavaScript programming
Create test suites rapidly without coding (or a little bit), basing on built-in steps library
Schedule test with plans and arrange stories with sequential stages
Fast running, execute story groups in parallel by multi-workers
Built-in single page report render
Cover page view, REST API and cookies test
As we all know testing is an important part of any application. To assist with our testing we are going to use both Cypress and Jest. We feel these tools complement each other and will help us get good coverage of our code. We will use Cypress for our end to end testing as we've found it quite user friendly. Jest will be used for our unit tests because we've seen how many larger companies use it with great success.
Pros of Cypress
- Open source29
- Great documentation22
- Simple usage20
- Fast18
- Cross Browser testing10
- Easy us with CI9
- Npm install cypress only5
- Good for beginner automation engineers2
Pros of Protractor
- Easy setup9
- Quick tests implementation8
- Flexible6
- Open source5
- Promise support5
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Cons of Cypress
- Cypress is weak at cross-browser testing21
- Switch tabs : Cypress can'nt support14
- No iFrame support12
- No page object support9
- No multiple domain support9
- No file upload support8
- No support for multiple tab control8
- No xPath support8
- No support for Safari7
- Cypress doesn't support native app7
- Re-run failed tests retries not supported yet7
- No support for multiple browser control7
- $20/user/thread for reports5
- Adobe4
- Using a non-standard automation protocol4
- Not freeware4
- No 'WD wire protocol' support3
Cons of Protractor
- Limited4