Playwright Basic Interview Practice

Prepare for your next SDET or QA interview with curated questions and answers.

Q1: What is Playwright and why is it used in automation testing?

Answer: Playwright is an open-source end-to-end automation testing framework developed by Microsoft. It is used to automate web applications across multiple browsers.

Why it is used:

Fast and reliable UI testing
Auto-waiting for elements
API testing support
Parallel execution
Mobile/device emulation
Supports Chromium, Firefox, WebKit browsers

Example

javascript

const { chromium } = require('@playwright/test');

(async () => {
  const browser = await chromium.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://google.com');
  console.log(await page.title());
  await browser.close();
})();

Q2: How Playwright different from Selenium or Cypress?

Answer:

Feature	Playwright	Selenium	Cypress
Multi-browser support	Yes	Yes	Limited
Auto wait	Yes	No	Yes
Multi-tab support	Yes	Yes	Weekly
Fast execution	High	Medium	High
Mobile emulation	Yes	Limited	No
Network interception	Yes	Limited	Yes

Summary:

Playwright = Modern + Fast + Powerful
Selenium = Old + Large ecosystem
Cypress = Frontend focused

Q3: Which browsers are supported by Playwright?

Answer:

Playwright supports:

Chromium (Chrome, Edge)
Firefox
WebKit (Safari engine)

Example Test

javascript

const { chromium, firefox, webkit } = require('@playwright/test');

Q4: How to install Playwright and set it up for a new project?

Answer:

Step 1: Create project

Bash

npm init playwright@latest

Step 2: Install dependencies

Bash

npm install

Step 3: Run test

Bash

npx playwright test

Folder structure:

Bash

tests/ 
playwright.config.js 
package.json

Q5: What is locators in Playwright?

Answer: Locators is used to find web elements on the page.

Common locators:

id
text
CSS
XPath
Role-based

Example:

javascript

page.locator('#username');
page.locator('text=Login');
page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });

Q6: What's the difference between page.click() and locator.click() in playwright?

Answer:

page.click()	locator.click()
Direct click using selector	Uses locator object
Older style	Recommended
Less reusable	Reusable

Example:

javascript

await page.click('#login');

const btn = page.locator('#login');
await btn.click();

Best Practice:

Use locator.click()

Q7: How does Playwright handle waits automatically?

Answer:

Playwright automatically waits for::

Element visible
Enabled
Stable
Attached to DOM

No need for many sleep() commands.

Example:

javascript

await page.locator('#submit').click();

Playwright waits until button is ready.

Q8: How to handle dropdowns and input fields?

Answer:

Input field:

javascript

await page.fill('#username', 'admin');

Dropdown:

javascript

await page.selectOption('#country', 'India');

Multi-select:

javascript

await page.selectOption('#skills', ['NodeJS', 'JavaScript']);

Q9: How to take screenshots and record videos in Playwright?

Answer:

Screenshot

javascript

await page.screenshot({ path: 'page.png' });

Full page screenshot:

javascript

await page.screenshot({ path: 'full.png', fullPage: true });

Video recording:

javascript

const context = await browser.newContext({
  recordVideo: { dir: 'videos/' }
});

Q10: How to open multiple browser tabs or contexts in playwright?

Answer:

New tab:

javascript

const page2 = await context.newPage();

New context:

javascript

const context2 = await browser.newContext();

Use case:

Multiple users login
Separate sessions

Q11: What's the difference between page, browser, and browserContext?

Answer:

Term	Meaning
Browser	Full browser instance
BrowserContext	Separate session/incognito
Page	Single tab

Example

javascript

const browser = await chromium.launch();
const context = await browser.newContext();
const page = await context.newPage();

Q12: How to handle alerts and pop-ups in playwright?

Answer:

JavaScript alert:

javascript

page.on('dialog', async dialog => {
  console.log(dialog.message());
  await dialog.accept();
});

Dismiss alert:

javascript

await dialog.dismiss();

Q13: How to emulate mobile devices or geolocation?

Answer:

Mobile emulation:

javascript

const { devices } = require('@playwright/test');

const context = await browser.newContext({
  ...devices['iPhone 13']
});

Geolocation

javascript

const context = await browser.newContext({
  geolocation: { latitude: 18.5204, longitude: 73.8567 },
  permissions: ['geolocation']
});

Q14: How to handle different browser windows in Playwright?

Answer: When new window opens, use context.waitForEvent('page')

Mobile emulation:

javascript

const [newPage] = await Promise.all([
  context.waitForEvent('page'),
  page.click('text=Open Window')
]);

await newPage.waitForLoadState();
console.log(await newPage.title());

Q15: What command is used to generate Playwright tests automatically?

Answer: Use Codegen command.

Command:

Bash

npx playwright codegen https://example.com

Purpose:

Opens browser
Records actions
Generates automation script automatically

Example Output:

javascript

await page.goto('https://example.com');
await page.click('text=Login');
await page.fill('#user', 'admin');