User:Wood.vi/sandbox/Nightwatchjs (Software)

Nightwatch.js

Developer(s)	Andrei Rusu, Ravi Sawlani,
Stable release	2.1.3 / 2022-Apr-29
Written in	Node.js
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Behavior driven development framework / Test tool
License	MIT License
Website	nightwatchjs.org

Nightwatch.js

Introduction

What Is Nightwatch?

Nightwatch.js is an integrated framework for performing automated end-to-end testing on web applications and websites, across all major browsers. It is written in [Node.js][1] and uses the [W3C WebDriver API][2] to interact with various browsers.

It is a complete end-to-end and cross-browser testing solution and it aims to simplify the process of writing and running various types of tests, including:

• end-to-end tests on all major web browsers
• unit tests of Node.js services
• integration tests of HTTP APIs

Nightwatch was created in 2014 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the name was inspired by the famous painting [The Night Watch](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-C-5) by Dutch 17th century artist [Rembrandt van Rijn](https://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/meet-rembrandt/). The masterpiece is prominently displayed in the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam. Read more about how Nightwatch was created [here][4].

How Does It Work?

Nightwatch is distributed as an easy to use CLI tool and has built-in support for all major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Nightwatch performs the browser automation by taking advantage of the industry standard protocol **WebDriver**, which is defined as a W3C standard specification.

![Theory of Operation][image-1]

What is WebDriver?

<img src="https://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/2016/logos/W3C" alt="W3C WebDriver" title="W3C WebDriver" class="whatis">

Nightwatch uses internally the [W3C WebDriver API][6] to perform the browser automation related tasks, like opening windows or clicking links.

[WebDriver][7] is a general purpose library for automating web browsers, part of the [Selenium][5] project. It is now a [W3C specification][10] which standardises browser automation, providing a reliable and consistent protocol to remotely control web browsers via a restful **HTTP API**.

Created more than a decade ago, **Selenium** is by far the most widely used project in the automated testing industry, providing a comprehensive set of tools for browser automation, initially written for Java but now with support for most programming languages.

Browser Support

WebDriver is implemented by all major browser vendors as a W3C compliant HTTP service.

Browser Driver	Browser	Description
<a class="local-nav" href="/gettingstarted/installation/#install-geckodriver">GeckoDriver</a>	<img alt="Mozilla Firefox" src="https://nightwatchjs.org/img/logos/Firefox_Logo_2017.png"/>	Standalone application which implements the [W3C WebDriver API](https://w3c.github.io/webdriver/#protocol) to communicate with Firefox.
<a class="local-nav" href="/gettingstarted/installation/#install-chromedriver">ChromeDriver</a>	<img alt="Google Chrome" src="https://nightwatchjs.org/img/logos/1200px-Google_Chrome_icon.svg.png"/>	Standalone application which implements the [W3C WebDriver API](https://w3c.github.io/webdriver/#protocol) for Chromium. Available for Chrome on Android and Chrome on Desktop (Mac, Linux, Windows and ChromeOS).
<a class="local-nav" href="/gettingstarted/installation/#install-microsoftedge">Microsoft Edge Driver</a>	<img alt="Microsoft Edge" src="https://nightwatchjs.org/img/logos/Microsoft_Edge_logo.svg.png"/>	Standalone application which is used to drive the recent Edge browser, based on Chromium, which works similar to ChromeDriver.
<a class="local-nav" href="/gettingstarted/installation/#install-safaridriver">SafariDriver</a>	<img alt="Microsoft Edge" src="https://nightwatchjs.org/img/logos/safari_icon_large_2x.png"/>	The `/usr/bin/safaridriver` binary comes pre-installed with recent versions of Mac OS and it's available to use following the instructions on [Apple Developer website](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/testing_with_webdriver_in_safari). More information is available on <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/about_webdriver_for_safari" target="_blank">About WebDriver for Safari</a> page.

Nightwatch & Selenium Server

Nightwatch can also be used for distributed cross-browser end-to-end testing at scale together with the [Selenium Server][13] (also known as **Selenium Grid**), which is an open-source project written in Java that manages a network of WebDriver nodes.

Nightwatch also can be integrated with cloud-based testing platforms like [Browserstack][14], [SauceLabs][15], [CrossBrowserTesting][16], or [LambdaTest][17].

![Selenium Server Operation][image-2]

Nightwatch is sometimes inaccurately described as a "Selenium binding" library. While it's true that Nightwatch can be (and is often) used together with the [Selenium Server][18] it's important to remember that Nightwatch is a complete testing solution which contains a built-in CLI test runner, an extendible command and assertion library, and support for page object model.

[1]: https://nodejs.org/ [2]: https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver/ [3]: https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/wiki/JsonWireProtocol [4]: /about [5]: https://selenium.dev/ [6]: https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver [7]: https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver [8]: https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/ [9]: https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver [10]: https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver/ [11]: https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/wiki/JsonWireProtocol [12]: /gettingstarted/installation/#webdriver-service [13]: https://selenium.dev/downloads/ [14]: https://www.browserstack.com/ [15]: https://saucelabs.com/ [16]: https://crossbrowsertesting.com/ [17]: https://www.lambdatest.com/ [18]: https://selenium.dev/downloads/ [19]: https://selenium.dev/downloads/

[image-1]: /img/operation.png [image-2]: /img/operation-cloud.png

History

Nightwatch.js was initially created in Oslo, Norway by Pineview.io – an independent software consultancy; it is now being maintained at BrowserStack with help from all our contributors.

External links

• www.example.com