🚀 Advanced Test Automation Framework (Screenplay Pattern + Playwright + Cucumber + TypeScript)

👋 About This Project

This project is a showcase of advanced test automation architectures. Originally built using the Page Object Model (POM), it has been migrated to the Screenplay Pattern to demonstrate superior scalability, maintainability, and readability.

I chose Automation Exercise (https://www.automationexercise.com) as the target because it offers a realistic e-commerce flow perfect for practicing end-to-end scenarios.

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🏗 Architecture Evolution: POM vs. Screenplay

Why migrate from Page Object Model (POM)?

While POM is standard, it often leads to:

• Large Classes: Page objects grow indefinitely as features are added.
• Tight Coupling: Tests depend heavily on specific page implementations.
• Duplication: Similar interactions (like clicking a button) are rewritten for every page.

The Screenplay Pattern Solution

The Screenplay Pattern applies SOLID principles to test automation:

• Actors (Users) have Abilities (Browse the Web).
• Tasks (High-level goals like "Login") are composed of Interactions (Low-level actions like "Click", "Enter").
• Questions retrieve information about the system state.

Benefits:

• Reusable: "Click" is written once and used everywhere.
• Readable: Tests read like a script: Actor.attemptsTo(Login.withCredentials(...)).
• Composable: Tasks can be combined easily to form complex workflows.

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Playwright: Fast, reliable, auto-waiting, multi-context browser automation.
• Cucumber (BDD): Gherkin syntax for collaboration with non-technical stakeholders.
• TypeScript: Type safety to prevent runtime errors.
• Screenplay Pattern: Modular, user-centric design pattern.

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🌟 Features Implemented

🎭 Screenplay Components

• Tasks: Login, Register, PlaceOrder, AddProductToCart
• Interactions: Click, Enter, Navigate, Select, Hover, TakeScreenshot, MockResponse
• Questions: Text, IsVisible, Attribute, Count, See (Assertion)
• UI Layers: LoginUI, SignUpUI, ProductUI, CartUI, CheckoutUI (Pure Locators)

🔄 Hybrid Testing (API + UI)

• Users are created via API Request Context in hooks to speed up login tests.
• Tests focus on UI logic without waiting for slow registration flows.

📸 Visual Regression & Mocking

• Visual: TakeScreenshot interaction captures UI states for verification.
• Mocking: MockResponse interaction intercepts network requests to test edge cases (e.g., 500 errors).

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📊 Performance Benchmarks (POM vs Screenplay)

Metric	Page Object Model (POM)	Screenplay Pattern	Analysis
Readability	Good (Method calls)	Excellent (Natural Language)	Screenplay reads like English sentences.
Reusability	Low (Page specific)	High (Universal Interactions)	Interactions are generic and reusable across all features.
Maintenance	Medium (Large files)	Low (Small, single-purpose files)	Easier to fix a specific Interaction than debug a 500-line Page Object.
Execution Time	~5s (Login)	~5s (Login)	Negligible difference; Screenplay overhead is minimal.
Scalability	Harder (God Objects)	Easier (Modular)	Adding new features doesn't bloat existing files.

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🚀 How to Run

1. Install Dependencies

npm install
npx playwright install

2. Run Tests

Run Screenplay Tests:

npx cucumber-js -p default --tags "@screenplay"

Run Legacy POM Tests (Backward Compatibility):

npx cucumber-js -p default --tags "not @screenplay"

Run Specific Suite:

npx cucumber-js -p default --tags "@checkout"

3. View Report

npm run report

4. Run with Docker

docker build -t automation-cv .
docker run automation-cv

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📂 Project Structure

src/
  ├── screenplay/         # Screenplay Pattern Core
  │   ├── core/           # Interfaces (Actor, Ability, Performable)
  │   ├── interactions/   # Low-level actions (Click, Enter)
  │   ├── tasks/          # High-level business logic (Login, Register)
  │   ├── questions/      # State retrieval (Text, IsVisible)
  │   └── ui/             # Pure Locators (No logic)
  ├── features/           # Gherkin files
  ├── steps/              # Step definitions (Glue code)
  ├── pages/              # Legacy POM files
  ├── support/            # Hooks, World, Helpers

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