{"id":45,"date":"2025-06-02T11:07:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/?p=45"},"modified":"2025-06-02T11:07:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:07:43","slug":"building-your-first-test-automation-script-selenium-or-cypress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/building-your-first-test-automation-script-selenium-or-cypress\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Your First Test Automation Script (Selenium or Cypress)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why Learn Test Automation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 especially in Agile or DevOps teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this guide, you’ll write your first test automation script<\/strong> using either Selenium (Java)<\/strong> or Cypress (JavaScript)<\/strong> \u2014 no prior automation experience needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude80 Option 1: Create a Test Automation Script Using Selenium (Java)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Set Up Your Environment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Java (JDK 8+)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • IntelliJ or Eclipse<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Maven<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Selenium WebDriver<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Maven Dependency:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    xmlCopyEdit<dependency>\n  <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium<\/groupId>\n  <artifactId>selenium-java<\/artifactId>\n  <version>4.18.1<\/version>\n<\/dependency>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    Step 2: Write a Simple Script<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    Here\u2019s a script that opens Google and searches for \u201cQA Playbook\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    javaCopyEditimport org.openqa.selenium.By;\nimport org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;\nimport org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;\nimport org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;\n\npublic class GoogleSearchTest {\n    public static void main(String[] args) {\n        \/\/ Set up ChromeDriver\n        System.setProperty(\"webdriver.chrome.driver\", \"path\/to\/chromedriver\");\n        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();\n\n        \/\/ Navigate to Google\n        driver.get(\"https:\/\/www.google.com\");\n\n        \/\/ Locate the search box and enter text\n        WebElement searchBox = driver.findElement(By.name(\"q\"));\n        searchBox.sendKeys(\"QA Playbook\");\n        searchBox.submit();\n\n        \/\/ Wait and close\n        try { Thread.sleep(3000); } catch (InterruptedException e) {}\n        driver.quit();\n    }\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    \u2705 What this does:<\/strong>
    Launches Chrome, searches Google, and closes the browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    \ud83c\udf3f Option 2: Create a Test Script Using Cypress (JavaScript)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Step 1: Set Up Cypress<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    You\u2019ll need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Node.js & npm<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • A test project folder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      Install Cypress:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      bashCopyEditnpm init -y\nnpm install cypress --save-dev\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      Open Cypress with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      bashCopyEditnpx cypress open\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      Step 2: Write a Test Script<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Create a file in: cypress\/e2e\/search.cy.js<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      javascriptCopyEditdescribe('Google Search Test', () => {\n  it('searches for QA Playbook', () => {\n    cy.visit('https:\/\/www.google.com');\n    cy.get('input[name=\"q\"]').type('QA Playbook{enter}');\n    cy.wait(3000);\n  });\n});\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      \u2705 What this does:<\/strong>
      Opens Google in the Cypress test browser, types a search, and waits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      \ud83e\udde0 Which Tool Should You Learn First?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      Feature<\/th>Selenium<\/th>Cypress<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      Language<\/td>Java, Python, etc.<\/td>JavaScript only<\/td><\/tr>
      Setup<\/td>More steps<\/td>Quick & easy<\/td><\/tr>
      Test Speed<\/td>Slower<\/td>Fast<\/td><\/tr>
      Community<\/td>Mature<\/td>Growing fast<\/td><\/tr>
      Use Case<\/td>Cross-browser<\/td>Mostly Chrome\/Edge<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \ud83d\udca1 Recommendation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Start with Cypress<\/strong> if you know JavaScript or want fast results<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Try Selenium<\/strong> if you’re already learning Java or need cross-browser support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \n\n\n\n
        \ud83d\udcc1 Tips for Beginners<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Always break your tests into small reusable parts<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Use comments to describe each step<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Focus on one scenario at a time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Learn basic selectors<\/strong> (IDs, names, XPaths)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Avoid relying only on Thread.sleep<\/code> \u2013 learn waits and assertions next<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          \n\n\n\n
          \u2705 What\u2019s Next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          Now that you\u2019ve created your first script, explore these next steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Add assertions<\/strong> to validate results<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Run tests in headless mode<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Explore Page Object Model<\/strong> (POM)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Integrate with CI\/CD<\/strong> tools like GitHub Actions or Jenkins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n\n\n\n
            \ud83d\udca5 Start Building Your Automation Portfolio Today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
            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 \u2014 especially in Agile or DevOps teams. In this guide, you’ll write your …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-management","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qaplaybook.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}