Problem Statement
What are key challenges with E2E testing in CI/CD?
Explanation
E2E tests validate complete application workflow from user perspective, testing UI, backend, database, external services together. Challenges: slow execution (minutes per test due to browser startup, network calls), flaky tests (intermittent failures from timing issues, network latency), high maintenance (break from UI changes), expensive infrastructure (browsers, test environments), complex debugging (failures involve multiple components).
Flakiness causes: async operations, race conditions, external dependencies, test interdependencies, timing assumptions. Solutions: explicit waits (not sleep), retry mechanisms, test isolation, stable selectors, network stubbing. Tools: Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, TestCafe.
CI/CD strategies: run critical path E2E tests only, run full suite nightly or before release, parallelize tests across machines, use headless browsers, implement retry logic, monitor flakiness. Benefits: validate real user scenarios, catch integration issues unit tests miss. Understanding E2E challenges enables realistic testing strategy.
