Web testing architecture and refactoring with Cypress

React Testing Library is a great framework for React component tests because there are a lot of questions it answers for you, so you don’t need to worry about those questions. But that doesn’t mean testing is easy. There are still a lot of questions you have to figure out for yourself: How many component tests should you write vs end-to-end tests or lower-level unit tests? How can you test a certain line of code that is tricky to test? And what in the world are you supposed to do about that persistent act() warning?
In this three-hour workshop we’ll introduce React Testing Library along with a mental model for how to think about designing your component tests. This mental model will help you see how to test each bit of logic, whether or not to mock dependencies, and will help improve the design of your components. You’ll walk away with the tools, techniques, and principles you need to implement low-cost, high-value component tests.
Table of contents
- The different kinds of React application tests, and where component tests fit in
- A mental model for thinking about the inputs and outputs of the components you test
- Options for selecting DOM elements to verify and interact with them
- The value of mocks and why they shouldn’t be avoided
- The challenges with asynchrony in RTL tests and how to handle them
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with building applications with React
- Basic experience writing automated tests with Jest or another unit testing framework
- You do not need any experience with React Testing Library
- Machine setup: Node LTS, Yarn

The web has evolved. Finally, testing has also. Cypress is a modern testing tool that answers the testing needs of modern web applications. It has been gaining a lot of traction in the last couple of years, gaining worldwide popularity. If you have been waiting to learn Cypress, wait no more! Filip Hric will guide you through the first steps on how to start using Cypress and set up a project on your own. The good news is, learning Cypress is incredibly easy. You'll write your first test in no time, and then you'll discover how to write a full end-to-end test for a modern web application. You'll learn the core concepts like retry-ability. Discover how to work and interact with your application and learn how to combine API and UI tests. Throughout this whole workshop, we will write code and do practical exercises. You will leave with a hands-on experience that you can translate to your own project.

Compared to unit testing, end-to-end testing aims to interact with your application just like a real user. And as we all know it can be pretty challenging. Especially when we talk about Mobile applications.
Tests rely on many conditions and are considered to be slow and flaky. On the other hand - end-to-end tests can give the greatest confidence that your app is working. And if done right - can become an amazing tool for boosting developer velocity.
Detox is a gray-box end-to-end testing framework for mobile apps. Developed by Wix to solve the problem of slowness and flakiness and
used by React Native itself
as its E2E testing tool.
Join me on this workshop to learn how to make your mobile end-to-end tests with Detox rock.
Prerequisites
- iOS/Android: MacOS Catalina or newer
- Android only: Linux
-
Install before the workshop

This workshop will teach you the basics of writing useful end-to-end tests using Cypress Test Runner.
We will cover writing tests, covering every application feature, structuring tests, intercepting network requests, and setting up the backend data.
Anyone who knows JavaScript programming language and has NPM installed would be able to follow along.

Do your automated tests include a11y checks? This workshop will cover how to get started with jest-axe to detect code-based accessibility violations, and Lighthouse CI to validate the accessibility of fully rendered pages. No amount of automated tests can replace manual accessibility testing, but these checks will make sure that your manual testers aren't doing more work than they need to.

So you’ve gotten Detox set up to test your React Native application. Good work! But you aren’t done yet: there are still a lot of questions you need to answer. How many tests do you write? When and where do you run them? How do you ensure there is test data available? What do you do about parts of your app that use mobile APIs that are difficult to automate? You could sink a lot of effort into these things—is the payoff worth it?
In this three-hour workshop we’ll address these questions by discussing how to integrate Detox into your development workflow. You’ll walk away with the skills and information you need to make Detox testing a natural and productive part of day-to-day development.
Table of contents:
- Deciding what to test with Detox vs React Native Testing Library vs manual testing
- Setting up a fake API layer for testing
- Getting Detox running on CI on GitHub Actions for free
- Deciding how much of your app to test with Detox: a sliding scale
- Fitting Detox into you local development workflow
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with building applications with React Native
- Basic experience with Detox
- Machine setup: a working React Native CLI development environment including either Xcode or Android Studio

The testing pyramid - the canonical shape of tests that defined what types of tests we need to write to make sure the app works - is ... obsolete. In this presentation, Roman Sandler and Gleb Bahmutov argue what the testing shape works better for today's web applications.