Playwright

Cross-Browser Test Automation with Playwright Framework.

Playwright is a modern tool that helps developers and testers automate web browsers. Playwright was created by Microsoft and released in 2020 and while that is relatively recent, it has quickly become a favorite among teams working on websites and web applications.

The main idea behind Playwright is simple: it lets you simulate how a real person would use your website. You can write a script that opens your site, clicks buttons, fills out forms, waits for things to load, and checks that everything looks and behaves the way it should. Instead of having a person manually test the site every time something changes, Playwright does it automatically.

What sets Playwright apart from older tools is how complete and flexible it is. You can test your application across all the major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari using one single test. And you can write your tests in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, or C#, depending on what your team prefers.

Playwright is fast, Playwright is powerful, and Playwright works really well with modern development workflows, especially those that rely on automated testing and continuous deployment.

Playwright in Legacy Modernization Projects

Playwright is an essential tool in legacy modernization projects focused on modernizing testing, quality assurance, and automated UI validation. Many legacy systems rely on manual testing, legacy batch scripts, or outdated testing frameworks that are difficult to maintain and often fail to provide consistent results. By integrating Playwright into modernization initiatives, organizations can implement robust, automated testing pipelines that validate web applications, legacy screen migrations, and new cloud-based interfaces, ensuring that modernized systems meet both functional and business requirements.

Modernizing UI and Functional Testing

Legacy applications often depend on static, terminal-based screens or proprietary 4GL interfaces, making automated testing challenging. Playwright enables developers and QA teams to simulate user interactions across modern web interfaces, including those built with Angular, React, or other modern frameworks. During modernization, Playwright is used to replicate critical workflows from legacy screens, verifying that migrated data, business logic, and user interactions function as expected in the modernized application. This ensures that key processes such as data entry, inquiry, reporting, and batch verification continue to operate accurately after migration.

Automating End-to-End Workflows

Playwright supports end-to-end automation for web applications, allowing modernization teams to validate entire business processes rather than isolated components. Legacy workflows that once required manual verification or cumbersome batch testing can be fully automated, including scenarios that involve multiple screens, forms, and backend processes. By scripting these end-to-end tests, Playwright ensures consistent, repeatable validation of both user interfaces and the underlying business logic, which is critical when migrating complex legacy systems to modern architectures.

Integrating With CI/CD Pipelines

A key advantage of Playwright in modernization projects is its seamless integration with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Automated tests can be executed on every code commit, build, or deployment, providing immediate feedback to developers and QA teams. This replaces legacy manual testing cycles and enhances confidence in new releases. Playwright scripts can run in parallel across multiple browsers and environments, ensuring broad compatibility and reducing the risk of regression as legacy functionality is migrated into modern cloud-based or web-enabled applications.

Supporting Regression Testing During Migration

During legacy modernization, changes to code, data structures, or business logic can unintentionally introduce errors. Playwright allows teams to create regression test suites that automatically verify that existing functionality behaves consistently in the modernized environment. These tests validate migrated screens, APIs, and workflows, ensuring that both historical business rules and modern enhancements operate correctly. This is particularly important when migrating complex systems with intertwined processes, such as those involving QTP batch jobs, Quick screens, or Quiz reports from legacy PowerHouse applications.

Enhancing Maintainability and Collaboration

Playwright promotes maintainable, modular test design through reusable components, parameterized tests, and structured scripts. This is a significant improvement over legacy testing methods, which often relied on ad hoc scripts or manual verification. Teams can version-control Playwright tests alongside application code, collaborate across development and QA teams, and continuously update tests as the modernized system evolves. The result is a sustainable testing framework that scales alongside the application while reducing reliance on specialized legacy knowledge.

Enabling Cross-Browser and Cross-Platform Validation

Legacy applications are often tied to specific platforms or operating systems, making modernized interfaces vulnerable to compatibility issues. Playwright enables testing across multiple browsers, devices, and screen resolutions, ensuring that modernized applications function consistently in diverse environments. This capability is essential when replacing legacy terminal or desktop interfaces with web-based solutions, providing confidence that migrated processes and user interactions perform correctly across all intended platforms.

How Batch Testing Is Used in Different Applications

Playwright is used for testing the behavior of web applications—from simple websites to complex enterprise platforms. Playwright focuses on making sure everything works as expected, across different browsers and devices, without needing someone to manually go through every step, incrementally saving time and money.

Here are some of the most common ways the Core teams use Playwright:

End-to-End Testing

This is the big one. Playwright can simulate a complete user journey—from opening a page and logging in, to submitting forms, checking notifications, or even going through a checkout process. It is as close as you can get to mimicking a real person using your application.

Cross-Browser Testing

If you haveve ever had to deal with a bug that only shows up in Safari or Firefox, you will know why this matters. Playwright makes it easy to run your tests on all the major browsers without setting up separate environments.

Testing APIs and Network Behavior

Playwright lets you monitor or mock network requests so you can test what happens when the server is slow, returns an error, or sends back a specific kind of response. This is incredibly useful for catching edge cases before they cause problems in production.

Running Tests in CI/CD Pipelines

Playwright is designed to work well with modern development tools. You can integrate it into your GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab, or Azure DevOps pipelines so that your tests run automatically every time code is pushed or deployed.

Capturing Screenshots and Reports

While not a full visual testing tool, Playwright can take screenshots or videos of your app during testing. This helps when you want to see what went wrong without reproducing the issue manually.

How Playwright is Used in Real Projects

In day-to-day development at Core, Playwright is used to save time and prevent errors. Teams might use it to:

  • Test the login flow after a new authentication feature is added
  • Make sure a redesigned page works on both Chrome and Safari
  • Automate boring, repetitive testing tasks
  • Confirm that important user actions—like adding items to a cart—still work after updates

Developers or QA engineers write short scripts that describe what a user would do, using Playwright’s simple, readable commands. For example, a script might say:

await page.goto('https://yourwebsite.com');
await page.fill('#username', 'testuser');
await page.click('text=Login');
await expect(page).toHaveText('Welcome back');

The code up there is a real test. It opens the page, fills in a form, clicks a button, and checks the result. These kinds of tests are powerful because they help teams catch bugs before users see them.

Pros and Cons of Playwright

Pros

  1. One Framework for All Browsers
    You can write one test and run it on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. That’s a huge win for consistency and time savings.
  2. It Waits for Things to Load
    Unlike some older tools, Playwright automatically waits for elements to appear or load. That means fewer flaky tests and less frustration.
  3. Works with Multiple Languages
    Most people use JavaScript or TypeScript, but if your team prefers Python, Java, or C#, that works too.
  4. It’s Built for Speed
    Tests run fast, especially in headless mode (where the browser runs without showing a UI). You can also run tests in parallel, which is great for large test suites.
  5. Great for Modern Applications
    If your application uses dynamic content, animations, or complex client-side logic, Playwright handles that well. Playwright us built with modern websites in mind.

Cons

  1. There’s a Learning Curve
    If you are new to automated testing, Playwright might feel overwhelming at first. Concepts like selectors, assertions, and async code take a bit of time to get comfortable with.
  2. Visual Testing Needs Add-Ons
    Playwright can capture screenshots, but for true pixel-by-pixel visual testing, you’ll need to use it with other tools.
  3. Tests Can Break When UI Changes
    If your developers change a button’s label or move a field, it can break your test. This means someone has to regularly update and maintain your test scripts.
  4. Requires Setup in CI/CD
    Running browser tests in a pipeline takes some setup—especially when using Docker or trying to run them in the cloud.
  5. Still a Growing Ecosystem
    Playwright is newer than Selenium, so while it’s catching up fast, it doesn’t yet have the same size of community or number of third-party integrations.

Final Thoughts

Playwright is a strong choice for anyone who wants to automate browser testing without a lot of hassle. Playwright is reliable, flexible, and built for the kinds of web applications people are making today. Whether you are a solo developer working on a side project or part of a large QA team supporting a complex application, Playwright gives you the tools to write solid, reusable tests that give you confidence in your code.

If your team is working on a modern web app, and especially if you care about catching bugs early, supporting multiple browsers, or speeding up releases, then Playwright is absolutely worth exploring.

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