End-to-End Testing with Protractor

1. Introduction

End-to-End (E2E) testing is a crucial part of the software development lifecycle, especially when working with Angular applications. Protractor is an end-to-end test framework for Angular and AngularJS applications, built on top of WebDriverJS.

2. Getting Started

Before we dive into writing tests, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system. You can check your Node.js version by running node -v in your terminal.

Install Protractor

To install Protractor globally, use the following command:

npm install -g protractor

After installation, update the WebDriver Manager:

webdriver-manager update

3. Protractor Setup

Create a configuration file named protractor.conf.js in the root directory of your project:

exports.config = {
    framework: 'jasmine',
    seleniumAddress: 'http://localhost:4444/wd/hub',
    specs: ['spec.js']
};

4. Writing Tests

Create a test specification file spec.js in the root directory:

describe('My Angular App', function() {
    it('should have a title', function() {
        browser.get('http://localhost:4200');
        expect(browser.getTitle()).toEqual('My Angular App');
    });
});

Run your test using the command:

protractor protractor.conf.js

5. Best Practices

• Write clear and concise test cases.
• Use page object patterns to maintain your tests.
• Ensure your tests are isolated and independent.
• Run tests regularly as part of your CI/CD pipeline.
• Document your test cases for future reference.

6. FAQ