Can I use Playwright for cross-browser testing?

Yes, you can absolutely use Playwright for cross-browser testing. Playwright is a Node.js library to automate Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit with a single API. It is capable of creating an automated testing environment for your web applications which is reliable and fast.

Playwright enables you to write tests that are run on different browsers and platforms, including headless modes and mobile. It also provides features like network interception and the ability to emulate different devices, making it a powerful tool for cross-browser testing.

Benefits of Playwright for Cross-Browser Testing

1. Multi-browser Support: Playwright supports Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit, hence allowing you to test across all modern browsers.
2. Reliability: It provides a robust automation API that ensures tests are reliable and flake-free.
3. Fast Execution: Playwright runs headless by default, making test execution faster.
4. Powerful Features: It supports advanced features like network interception, download handling, etc.

How to Use Playwright for Cross-Browser Testing

To install Playwright, you can use the following command in your console:

npm i playwright

After the installation, you can write a simple script to launch a browser, open a web page, and interact with it. Here's a basic test script in JavaScript:

const playwright = require('playwright');

(async () => {
  for (const browserType of ['chromium', 'firefox', 'webkit']) {
    const browser = await playwright[browserType].launch();
    const context = await browser.newContext();
    const page = await context.newPage();
    await page.goto('http://whatsmyuseragent.org/');
    await page.screenshot({ path: `example-${browserType}.png` });
    await browser.close();
  }
})();

In the above script, we're running the same test on Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit. The test navigates to 'http://whatsmyuseragent.org/' and takes a screenshot.

Also, Playwright provides the Playwright Test Runner which is a zero config cross-browser end-to-end testing solution for web apps.

Here's an example of how to use it:

npm i -D @playwright/test

Create a new test:

// tests/foo.spec.js
const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');

test('basic test', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('http://whatsmyuseragent.org/');
  await expect(page).toHaveText('Your User Agent');
});

And run your tests on all browsers:

npx playwright test --all

So, yes, Playwright can be an excellent tool for cross-browser testing due to its wide range of browser support and powerful features.