Hard or Soft Assertions in testing

1. Quality.Catalyzed Hard vs Soft Assertions A Strategic Choice in Software Testing Hard Assertions: What it is: A Hard Assertion immediately stops the execution of a test method if an assertion fails. It does not proceed to the next lines of code after the failure. When to Use: 1. Critical Test Cases Use Hard Assertions when the outcome of a particular step is critical for the continuation of the test. Example: Validating if a user is logged in before performing further actions. www.testrigtechnologies.com

2. Quality.Catalyzed 2. Blocking Conditions When a failure makes subsequent steps irrelevant or meaningless. Example: Validating API response codes (e.g., 200 OK) before asserting response body content. 3. Immediate Failure Visibility Use it when failure detection at the earliest point is crucial. 4. Smoke/Build Verification Tests Hard Assertions are used to quickly verify critical paths during Smoke Testing. www.testrigtechnologies.com

3. Quality.Catalyzed Example: Java @Test public void testLogin() { Assert.assertEquals(getPageTitle(), "Dashboard", "Login failed!"); // Hard Assertion System.out.println("This line won't execute if assertion fails."); } JavaScript const assert = require('assert'); // Hard assertion assert.equal(await page.title(), 'My Page'); assert.ok(await page.locator('button').isEnabled()); www.testrigtechnologies.com

4. Quality.Catalyzed Soft Assertions: What it is: A Soft Assertion allows the test method to continue execution even after an assertion fails. All assertion failures are collected and reported at the end of the test execution. When to Use: 1. Non-Critical Assertions Use Soft Assertions for checks that are not essential to the test flow. Example: Validating multiple fields on a page where failure in one field doesn't block the others. 2. Multiple Validations When you need to validate several conditions in a single test case and want to see all failures together. www.testrigtechnologies.com

5. Quality.Catalyzed 3. UI/Functional Testing Soft Assertions are beneficial in validating multiple UI elements (e.g., checking different labels, buttons, and fields on a form). 4. Regression Testing When verifying multiple parts of a system, Soft Assertions help identify all issues in one test execution instead of failing early. Example: JavaScript const { expect } = require('@playwright/test'); // Soft assertion await expect(page.locator('h1')).toHaveText('Welcome'); await expect(page.locator('button')).toBeEnabled(); www.testrigtechnologies.com

6. Quality.Catalyzed Java @Test public void testFormValidation() { SoftAssert softAssert = new SoftAssert(); softAssert.assertEquals(getLabelText(), "Name", "Label mismatch!"); softAssert.assertTrue(isSubmitButtonVisible(), "Submit button not visible!"); softAssert.assertEquals(getFieldPlaceholder(), "Enter Name", "Placeholder mismatch!"); System.out.println("This line will still execute even if assertions fail."); softAssert.assertAll(); // Reports all collected failures } www.testrigtechnologies.com

7. Quality.Catalyzed Key Differences Between Hard and Soft Assertions SOFT ASSERTION ASPECT HARD ASSERTION Execution Stops execution immediately on failure Continues execution despite failures Usage Critical validations Multiple validations / non- critical checks Failure Reporting Reports only the first failure Reports all failures at the end Performance Impact Minimal, as it stops early Slightly higher, as it runs all checks Conclusion Use Hard Assertions when failures at a specific step make further steps irrelevant or invalid. Use Soft Assertions for scenarios where multiple checks need to be performed, and you want to collect all failure results. For a balanced approach: Use Hard Assertions for critical verifications early in the test. Use Soft Assertions to validate multiple aspects in detail, especially in UI Testing or End-to-End scenarios.