WebDriverIO: Getting Started and Key Advantages

Are you a new developer finding it very hard to implement WebDriverIO? We have got you covered! This blog will help you understand the process of getting started with WebDriverIO. We will also lay special emphasis on the major features and advantages of this framework.

We testers have to lay special emphasis on ensuring that our application is compatible on not only desktops but also on mobile counterparts. WebDriverIO is one such open-source automation framework that helps us to achieve this goal of universal compatibility. This robust platform is the favorite option for many developers and testers.

What is WebDriverIO

At a very basic level, WebDriverIO is an automation framework that is created on top of node.js. This infused architecture allows the testers to write end-to-end test cases for automating web applications.

WebDriverIO uses the WebDriver protocol to control the browser instances and also automate various forms of user interactions. Using WebDriverIO, the testers will have native support for a huge range of browsers and platforms. This support makes it one of the most flexible tools that are currently available for web development.

To further improve our knowledge about the scope of testing with WebDriverIO, let us go through some of its major features:

• WebDriverIO provides support for various browsers and platforms. This support makes it one of the most popular options for executing automated cross-browser testing.

• By integrating WebDriverIO with Appium, the application testers can automate the mobile apps. The developers can execute the automated test cases on both Android and iOS applications.

• WebDriverIO has a huge plugin ecosystem. The testers can utilize these plugins to extend the capabilities and also improve the quality of the applications that are currently being developed and tested.

• Finally, the testers will find it very easy to integrate WebDriverIO with various continuous integration and continuous deployment tools. It is also simultaneously easy to integrate WebDriverIO with test frameworks and reporting tools.

Installing And Setting Up WebDriverIO

As we already mentioned earlier, it is a very straightforward process to set up WebDriverIO. This process also becomes easy due to the rich documentation regarding the installation process that is present on the official website.

However, to help the new developers and testers with this process, we have divided the entire installation process into prerequisites and major installation steps:

1. The first prerequisite is to ensure that node.js version 12 or higher is installed on your testing machine. You can easily download and install the software from the official website.

2. After this, you also have to ensure that you have the node package manager present on your system as it will be crucial for installing WebDriverIO and the other dependencies associated with it.

3. Finished implementing the prerequisites? Now, let us move on to the primary steps that will help you install WebDriverIO:

4. The first step is to crosscheck that you have node.js and npm installed on your system to prevent any possibilities of hiccups or unwanted obstacles.

5. After this, you have to initialize a new node.js project.  You can create it by creating a new directory for the project and initializing it with the node package manager. The following code snippet will help you with this process:

6. After this, you have to install WebDriver CLI. This tool will help you to set up the test environment and also ensure that all the test cases are available during the execution process. The testers can use the following code snippet to install WebDriver CLI using npm:

7. Proceed towards the configuration process for WebDriverIO. You can easily perform this process by running the configuration wizard using the following code snippet in the terminal window:

npx wdio config

8. The above initialized wizard will guide you through several options. These options will include selecting the test runner, specifying the browser for test automation, and choosing the test reporter tool. Moving on, we will use the example of Mocha and Chrome for elaborating all the future examples and code snippets.

9. The final step in the configuration process involves installing all the required packages. Based on the configuration choices, you have to install the necessary packages. To use Mocha and Chrome, you might need to initialize the following course snippet in the terminal window:

npm install @wdio/local-runner @wdio/mocha-framework @wdio/spec-reporter @wdio/sync chromedriver –save-dev

Writing Your Test Cases

Now that you have successfully set up WebDriverIO, you have to create the test cases to initiate the automation testing process. For this, you have to first create a new file, ‘test/specs/basic.js’ and add the following code snippet inside it:

After you have created your first test script, you can proceed towards the execution process. For this process, you simply have to enter the following code snippet in the terminal window of WebDriverIO:

npx wdio

If you have configured everything correctly, WebDriverIO is supposed to launch a new Chrome browser, navigate to the specified URL, and verify the page title using all the determined parameters.

Major Features of WebDriverIO

As we already mentioned earlier, WebDriverIO comes with a rich set of features which make it the best tool for initiating web and mobile automation testing. To shed more light over this segment, we have chosen some of the most important inclusions on this list:

1. Cloud Services Integration

It is a very easy process to integrate WebDriverIO with cloud-based testing services like LambdaTest. LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that lets you run manual and automated tests at scale.

LambdaTest can integrate WebDriverIO with Selenium to run the automated test cases parallely on more than 3000 different combinations of real devices, browsers, and operating systems. You might ask, what is selenium? Selenium is probably the most popular open-source web automation test suite.

2. Asynchronous Handling

WebDriverIO implements async syntax to make it easier to write and manage the asynchronous code. This implementation also makes it very easy for the testers to make the test cases more readable and maintainable.

3. Extensive Command API

Using WebDriverIO, the developers can use a comprehensive command API to interact with various web elements. This command API is also useful for navigating through multiple web pages, managing web cookies, and also performing other complex user interactions.

4. Test Framework Agonistic

While using WebDriverIO, the testers will have support for multiple testing frameworks like Jasmine and Mocha. This integration will provide the required flexibility so that the testers can choose all the required tools and integrations based on their project needs and personal preferences.

5. Included Wait Commands

As we already mentioned earlier, WebDriverIO comes with various native wait commands. These commands are designed to handle dynamic content and complex operations. So, the testers can use these commands like ‘waitForExist,’ ‘waitForDisplayed’ and ‘waitUntil’ to synchronize the test cases with the current status of the application.

The primary intention of these commands is to temporarily pause the test execution process until a specific element or web page becomes visible. After this, the system will automatically resume the test case and proceed toward the next phase in the execution process.

6. Screenshot and Video Capture

WebDriverIO allows the testers to capture screenshots and record videos during the test execution process. The purpose of this integration is to allow the testers to simplify the debugging and reporting process. The most unique thing about this integration is that WebDriverIO can perform this process automatically whenever it detects the execution of any test instance.

Moreover, cloud platforms like LambdaTest also allow the developers to generate comprehensive test reports with multiple screenshots and videos pinpointing the faulty elements and assisting in easy error navigation.

7. Parallel Test Execution

WebDriverIO natively supports parallel test execution. In simple terms, this is the process of executing thousands of different test scripts on different configurations and machines at the same time.

So, with the proper implementation of this process, we can complete the entire test scenario in a fraction of the time compared to executing the test scripts individually. This process becomes even more useful when the developers are using agile methodologies, where efficiency is one of the most important parameters.

8. Extensibility With Plugins

The huge plugin ecosystem of WebDriverIO allows the testers to massively expand the functionality of the testing process with custom services, commands and reports. Moreover, the dedicated community of WebDriverIO has created multiple other plugins for various use cases. These use cases range from cloud services integration to enhanced test reporting.

In case you want to contribute to this plugin ecosystem, you are completely free to create your own plugins and share them with other developers and testers.

Best Practices for WebDriverIO

The tests can integrate the following best practices with WebDriverIO-based automation testing to streamline the testing efforts, improve the quality of the app, and also reduce the time to market:

• Structure the test files logically to make the test suite easy to maintain and navigate. To implement this process, you can group the same test cases into specific folders and name them descriptively.

• We advise the use of Page Object Models to encapsulate the interactions within web pages. This design practice not only promotes code reusability but also makes the test cases more maintainable.

• It is wise to use WebDriverIO’s built- in wait commands for handling synchronous operations and dynamic content. If you fail to properly handle this process, you can cause flaky test results.

• Finally, the testers must integrate WebDriverIO with continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines for automating the entire testing flow. This will help to execute the test cases automatically after the system sees any change within the application source code.

The Bottom Line

Based on all the factors that we discussed in this article, we can safely conclude that WebDriverIO is a versatile and powerful automation framework. The modern JavaScript support, extensive integrations, and rich feature set make it the best choice for developers and testers who are looking to automate their testing processes on mobile and desktop.

Moreover, by implementing the best practices that we discussed in this article, the testers can utilize the full power of this framework to create maintainable, robust, and highly efficient test scripts.

Finally, whether you are a new automation tester or an experienced professional, WebDriverIO will provide the flexibility and tools to achieve your testing goals. Its active community and continuous development remain one of the major driving factors which make it one of the top end-to-end testing frameworks in the current generation.