Building Your First Test Automation Script (Selenium or Cypress)

Why Learn Test Automation?

If you’re starting your QA career or want to level up your testing skills, learning how to automate tests is a smart move. Automation helps reduce repetitive manual testing, speeds up releases, and makes your resume stand out — especially in Agile or DevOps teams.

In this guide, you’ll write your first test automation script using either Selenium (Java) or Cypress (JavaScript) — no prior automation experience needed.

🚀 Option 1: Create a Test Automation Script Using Selenium (Java)

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment

You’ll need:

Java (JDK 8+)
IntelliJ or Eclipse
Maven
Selenium WebDriver

Maven Dependency:

xmlCopyEdit<dependency>
  <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
  <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
  <version>4.18.1</version>
</dependency>

Step 2: Write a Simple Script

Here’s a script that opens Google and searches for “QA Playbook”.

javaCopyEditimport org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class GoogleSearchTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Set up ChromeDriver
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver");
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        // Navigate to Google
        driver.get("https://www.google.com");

        // Locate the search box and enter text
        WebElement searchBox = driver.findElement(By.name("q"));
        searchBox.sendKeys("QA Playbook");
        searchBox.submit();

        // Wait and close
        try { Thread.sleep(3000); } catch (InterruptedException e) {}
        driver.quit();
    }
}

✅ What this does:
Launches Chrome, searches Google, and closes the browser.

🌿 Option 2: Create a Test Script Using Cypress (JavaScript)

Step 1: Set Up Cypress

You’ll need:

Node.js & npm
A test project folder

Install Cypress:

bashCopyEditnpm init -y
npm install cypress --save-dev

Open Cypress with:

bashCopyEditnpx cypress open

Step 2: Write a Test Script

Create a file in: cypress/e2e/search.cy.js

javascriptCopyEditdescribe('Google Search Test', () => {
  it('searches for QA Playbook', () => {
    cy.visit('https://www.google.com');
    cy.get('input[name="q"]').type('QA Playbook{enter}');
    cy.wait(3000);
  });
});

✅ What this does:
Opens Google in the Cypress test browser, types a search, and waits.

🧠 Which Tool Should You Learn First?

Feature	Selenium	Cypress
Language	Java, Python, etc.	JavaScript only
Setup	More steps	Quick & easy
Test Speed	Slower	Fast
Community	Mature	Growing fast
Use Case	Cross-browser	Mostly Chrome/Edge

💡 Recommendation:

Start with Cypress if you know JavaScript or want fast results
Try Selenium if you’re already learning Java or need cross-browser support

📁 Tips for Beginners

Always break your tests into small reusable parts
Use comments to describe each step
Focus on one scenario at a time
Learn basic selectors (IDs, names, XPaths)
Avoid relying only on Thread.sleep – learn waits and assertions next

✅ What’s Next?

Now that you’ve created your first script, explore these next steps:

Add assertions to validate results
Run tests in headless mode
Explore Page Object Model (POM)
Integrate with CI/CD tools like GitHub Actions or Jenkins

💥 Start Building Your Automation Portfolio Today

Even a single script can show initiative to employers. Add your code to GitHub and explain the logic in a README. Over time, build on this with multiple test scenarios.