Is the test order within one file (one describe block) guaranteed?

[Nasicus]

So this may not even be a Cypress specific thing but since I'm using Cypress I still think it's bes to ask here.

I'ts a very simply question:

Is the test order within one file (one describe block) guaranteed?

Why do I ask that?

We have quite a lot of database dependent tests.
Because of this we often have to seed our database data within tests.

Now let's assume I have the following tests:

describe('My database tests', () => {
  // this is only done once for all tests in this block
  before(() => {
    seedUsersInDatabase();
  });

  it('Get users', () => {
    // expect 10 users
   });

  it('Remove users', () => {
    // expect 5 users removed
   });
});

Maybe you already see why the question poppep up.

If it's guaranteed that the tests within a describe block are always executed in the same order, I can seed the database with before. However if the order is not guaranteed I'd need to change it to beforeEach.

I personally assumed the order is guaranteed and therefore wrote only the before. The main reason for this is by the way: Performance! Seeding a database sometimes takes quite the time (even if it's just 100ms, it sums up if you have a lot of tests).

[jennifer-shehane]

The tests will run in order, although we don't recommend you rely on the state of a previous test for your next test. Also, if one test fails (say your second test), all of the tests following may be affected or you may get false positives / negatives due to the state not being changed in that failed tests.

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