Playwright Python Website Testing Framework

A modern test automation framework using Playwright and Python for website testing, featuring Behavior Driven Development (BDD).

Features

• Behavior Driven Development with pytest-bdd
• Page Object Model pattern for maintainable test structure
• Strong typing with Python type hints
• Modular test organization (e2e, components, features)
• Configuration management via .env
• Utility functions for common test operations
• Cross-browser testing support
• HTML reporting
• Local test server using Flask

Project Structure

/playwright-python-website
├── config/               # Test configurations
├── page_objects/        # Page object models
├── tests/               # Test files
│   ├── e2e/            # End-to-end tests
│   ├── components/     # Component tests
│   └── features/       # BDD feature files and steps
│       ├── steps/      # Step definitions
│       └── conftest.py # BDD fixtures
├── utils/              # Helper utilities
└── reports/           # Test execution reports

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• pip (Python package installer)

Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following settings:

BROWSER=chromium
HEADLESS=false
SLOW_MO=0
BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000
VIEWPORT_WIDTH=1280
VIEWPORT_HEIGHT=720
TIMEOUT=30000

Running Tests

1. Start the local test server:

python app.py

2. Run all tests:

pytest

3. Run specific test file:

pytest tests/e2e/test_example.py -v

4. Run BDD feature tests:

pytest tests/features/steps/ -v

5. Generate HTML report:

pytest --html=reports/report.html

Test Structure

• Feature Files: Gherkin syntax for BDD scenarios
• Step Definitions: Python implementations of BDD steps
• Page Objects: Reusable functions for page interactions
• E2E Tests: End-to-end test scenarios
• Component Tests: Individual component testing
• Utilities: Helper functions for common operations

Best Practices

1. BDD Implementation

   • Write clear, descriptive feature files
   • Use reusable step definitions
   • Implement strong fixtures
   • Follow Given-When-Then pattern

2. Code Style

   • Use functional programming patterns
   • Follow snake_case naming convention
   • Include proper type hints (Dict, Any, Callable)
   • Write modular, reusable code

3. Error Handling

   • Implement strong error handling
   • Use proper timeouts and waits
   • Handle network requests properly
   • Include descriptive error messages
   • Handle CAPTCHA and rate limiting gracefully

4. Documentation

   • Add docstrings to all functions
   • Document test scenarios clearly
   • Keep README up to date
   • Generate and maintain test reports
   • Document lessons learned

Contributing

1. Follow the established code style
2. Add proper documentation
3. Write tests for new features
4. Update README as needed
5. Document lessons learned

Tech Stack

• Python 3.8+
• Playwright 1.42.0
• pytest 7.4.4
• pytest-playwright 0.4.3
• pytest-bdd 7.1.2
• Flask 3.0.2
• pytest-html 4.1.1
• python-dotenv 1.0.0
• parse 1.20.1
• parse-type 0.6.2

Additional Resources

• LessonLearned.md - Detailed documentation of implementation insights and best practices
• pytest-bdd Documentation - Official pytest-bdd documentation
• Playwright Documentation - Official Playwright Python documentation