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Cypress vs Enzyme: What are the differences?

Introduction

Cypress and Enzyme are both popular testing frameworks used in JavaScript development for testing web applications. While they serve a similar purpose, there are several key differences between the two.

  1. Execution context: One of the major differences between Cypress and Enzyme is the execution context in which the tests run. Cypress runs tests in the same context as the application being tested, allowing for direct control and manipulation of the application's elements and behavior. On the other hand, Enzyme runs tests in a separate environment, utilizing a simulated DOM, which allows for more isolated component-level testing.

  2. Test syntax: Cypress focuses on a declarative and expressive syntax, providing a simplified way to write tests using methods like cy.get() for selecting DOM elements and cy.contains() for asserting element content. Enzyme, on the other hand, utilizes a more imperative syntax, allowing for shallow rendering and manipulation of React components using methods like wrapper.find() and wrapper.simulate().

  3. Debugging capabilities: Cypress provides extensive debugging capabilities, including an interactive test runner that allows developers to see the application in real-time as the tests are running. It also offers features like time-travel debugging and snapshot debugging, making it easier to diagnose and troubleshoot test failures. Enzyme, while lacking the same level of built-in debugging support, integrates well with popular development tools like React Developer Tools, making it easier to debug component-level issues.

  4. Browser support: Cypress is primarily designed for automating modern web applications and is tightly integrated with Chromium-based browsers. It offers a consistent and reliable testing experience across different browsers. Enzyme, on the other hand, is browser-agnostic and can be used with any JavaScript testing framework. It provides a lightweight and flexible testing solution, but it may require additional setup and configuration to work with different browser environments.

  5. Full-stack testing: Cypress is typically used for end-to-end testing, covering the entire stack from the front-end user interface to the back-end API interactions. It allows developers to simulate user interactions and assert the state of the application at different levels. Enzyme, on the other hand, is primarily focused on component testing, allowing developers to test individual React components in isolation. While Enzyme can also be used for integration testing, it may require additional tools and libraries to cover the full-stack testing scenarios.

  6. Community support and ecosystem: Cypress has gained significant popularity and has a growing community, providing a wide range of plugins and extensions to enhance its functionality. It also offers comprehensive documentation and regular updates from the Cypress team. Enzyme, being one of the earliest testing libraries for React, has a mature ecosystem with a large number of community-contributed packages and utilities. It also has good documentation and continues to evolve based on community feedback.

In summary, Cypress and Enzyme differ in their execution context, test syntax, debugging capabilities, browser support, full-stack testing approach, and community support. Choosing the right testing framework depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the project.

Advice on Cypress and Enzyme
Yildiz Dila
testmanager/automation tester at medicalservice · | 5 upvotes · 258.6K views
Needs advice
on
CypressCypress
and
ProtractorProtractor

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...

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Replies (2)
Kevin Emery
QE Systems Engineer at Discovery, Inc. · | 4 upvotes · 157.9K views
Recommends
on
CypressCypressProtractorProtractor

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

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Jian Wang
Web Engineer at sentaca · | 1 upvotes · 186.7K views
Recommends

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

https://github.com/newlifewj/handow

http://demo.shm.handow.org/reports

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Decisions about Cypress and Enzyme
Shared insights
on
CypressCypressJestJest

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.

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Postman will be used to do integration testing with the backend API we create. It offers a clean interface to create many requests, and you can even organize these requests into collections. It helps to test the backend API first to make sure it's working before using it in the front-end. Jest can also be used for testing and is already embedded into React. Not only does it offer unit testing support in javascript, it can also do snapshot testing for the front-end to make sure components are rendering correctly. Enzyme is complementary to Jest and offers more functions such as shallow rendering. UnitTest will be used for Python testing as it is simple, has a lot of functionality and already built in with python. Sentry will be used for keeping track of errors as it is also easily integratable with Heroku because they offer it as an add-on. LogDNA will be used for tracking logs which are not errors and is also a Heroku add-on. Its good to have a separate service to record logs, monitor, track and even fix errors in real-time so our application can run more smoothly.

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Pros of Cypress
Pros of Enzyme
  • 29
    Open source
  • 22
    Great documentation
  • 20
    Simple usage
  • 18
    Fast
  • 10
    Cross Browser testing
  • 9
    Easy us with CI
  • 5
    Npm install cypress only
  • 1
    Good for beginner automation engineers
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    Cons of Cypress
    Cons of Enzyme
    • 21
      Cypress is weak at cross-browser testing
    • 14
      Switch tabs : Cypress can'nt support
    • 12
      No iFrame support
    • 9
      No page object support
    • 9
      No multiple domain support
    • 8
      No file upload support
    • 8
      No support for multiple tab control
    • 8
      No xPath support
    • 7
      No support for Safari
    • 7
      Cypress doesn't support native app
    • 7
      Re-run failed tests retries not supported yet
    • 7
      No support for multiple browser control
    • 5
      $20/user/thread for reports
    • 4
      Adobe
    • 4
      Using a non-standard automation protocol
    • 4
      Not freeware
    • 3
      No 'WD wire protocol' support
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      - No public GitHub repository available -

      What is Cypress?

      Cypress is a front end automated testing application created for the modern web. Cypress is built on a new architecture and runs in the same run-loop as the application being tested. As a result Cypress provides better, faster, and more reliable testing for anything that runs in a browser. Cypress works on any front-end framework or website.

      What is Enzyme?

      Enzyme is a JavaScript Testing utility for React that makes it easier to assert, manipulate, and traverse your React Components' output.

      Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

      What companies use Cypress?
      What companies use Enzyme?
      See which teams inside your own company are using Cypress or Enzyme.
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      What tools integrate with Cypress?
      What tools integrate with Enzyme?

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      What are some alternatives to Cypress and Enzyme?
      Selenium
      Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-based administration tasks can (and should!) also be automated as well.
      TestCafe
      It is a pure node.js end-to-end solution for testing web apps. It takes care of all the stages: starting browsers, running tests, gathering test results and generating reports.
      Puppeteer
      Puppeteer is a Node library which provides a high-level API to control headless Chrome over the DevTools Protocol. It can also be configured to use full (non-headless) Chrome.
      WebdriverIO
      WebdriverIO lets you control a browser or a mobile application with just a few lines of code. Your test code will look simple, concise and easy to read.
      Jest
      Jest provides you with multiple layers on top of Jasmine.
      See all alternatives