Up until now I had been testing my apps manually.

After every iteration in the code I’d go back and test again. Click through the features and see if they behaved as I had intended.

This took time. I missed bugs.

However, I resisted implementing automated tests. It didn’t feel like a worthwhile use of my time. I felt as though manual testing was going to be quicker.

I was wrong.

I finally took the leap, watched an introduction to Jest, React-Testing-Library and Cypress. Then spent a few hours reading the docs and articles I found online. This allowed me to implement and gain confidence with frontend testing.

It wasn’t a huge undertaking but the results were awesome. I am now sold on the idea of automated testing.

Sure, it took me some extra time to write the tests. However, if I need to change my code at all: it’s very simple for me to check that the application functions as I intended.

Run the tests and ‘bam’, they pass or fail. Immediate feedback. That’s where the time is saved.

Here starts a two part series the short story on Jest, React-Testing-Library and Cypress.