Mastering Playwright from Scratch

Mastering Playwright from Scratch: A Complete Guide

Introduction

In the world of web automation and end-to-end testing, Playwright has emerged as one of the most powerful and modern tools. Developed by Microsoft, Playwright supports multiple browsers (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit) and multiple languages (JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, C#, and Java). If you're starting your automation journey or switching from Selenium or Cypress, this guide will help you master Playwright from scratch.


What is Playwright?

Playwright is an open-source test automation framework that allows you to automate web browsers for testing and scraping purposes. It enables you to:


Automate Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit with a single API.


Perform cross-browser testing.


Run tests in headless and headed modes.


Handle multiple tabs, popups, iframes, and downloads.


Automate modern web apps with dynamic content.


Key Features of Playwright

Cross-browser Testing: Supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari (via WebKit).


Auto-wait: Automatically waits for elements to be ready.


Multi-language Support: Works with JavaScript, Python, C#, and Java.


Headless Execution: Supports running tests in headless browsers.


Powerful Selectors: Supports CSS, XPath, text, role, and more.


Mobile and Geolocation Testing


Rich Debugging Tools: Trace viewer, screenshots, and video recording.


Setting Up Playwright

✅ For JavaScript/TypeScript

Install Node.js


Download from https://nodejs.org


Initialize Project


bash

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npm init -y

npm install -D @playwright/test

npx playwright install

Create a test file


javascript

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// tests/example.spec.js

const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');


test('Basic test', async ({ page }) => {

  await page.goto('https://example.com');

  const title = await page.title();

  expect(title).toBe('Example Domain');

});

Run the test


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npx playwright test

Core Concepts to Master

1. Browsers and Contexts

Playwright launches a browser instance and creates multiple browser contexts, like separate incognito sessions.


javascript

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const browser = await playwright.chromium.launch();

const context = await browser.newContext();

2. Pages and Navigation

javascript

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const page = await context.newPage();

await page.goto('https://example.com');

3. Locators and Actions

Playwright offers powerful locators:


javascript

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await page.click('text=Login');

await page.fill('#username', 'admin');

await page.fill('#password', 'admin123');

await page.click('button[type="submit"]');

4. Assertions

javascript

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await expect(page).toHaveURL('https://example.com/dashboard');

await expect(page.locator('h1')).toHaveText('Welcome');

Advanced Playwright Features

🔹 Parallel Testing

Playwright runs tests in parallel by default for faster execution.


🔹 Screenshots and Videos

javascript

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await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });

Enable in config to record videos:


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use: {

  video: 'on',

  screenshot: 'only-on-failure',

}

🔹 Trace Viewer

Debug failed tests with a visual trace:


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npx playwright show-trace trace.zip

🔹 Handling Alerts, Popups, Frames

Playwright handles these easily using context and event listeners.


Playwright Test Generator

You can generate tests by recording user actions:


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npx playwright codegen https://example.com

This opens a browser and records your actions as Playwright code.


Organizing Your Test Project

arduino

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tests/

├── login.spec.js

├── dashboard.spec.js

playwright.config.js

utils/

├── helpers.js

Sample Configuration (playwright.config.js)

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module.exports = {

  use: {

    headless: true,

    browserName: 'chromium',

    baseURL: 'https://example.com',

  },

  reporter: [['list'], ['html']],

  retries: 1,

};

Playwright vs Other Frameworks

Feature Playwright Selenium Cypress

Language Support ✅ JS, Python, Java, C# ✅ Multiple ❌ JS only

Cross-browser ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ⚠️ Limited

Mobile Emulation ✅ Yes ⚠️ Complex ⚠️ Basic

Speed ⚡ Fast 🐢 Slower ⚡ Fast

Auto-waiting ✅ Yes ❌ Manual waits ✅ Yes

Network Intercept ✅ Advanced ✅ Limited ✅ Yes

Conclusion

Playwright is a modern, powerful, and flexible automation framework ideal for testing modern web applications. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced automation engineer, Playwright’s robust features and developer-friendly APIs make it a top choice for end-to-end testing.

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