Salesforce remains a leading CRM platform with two distinct user interfaces: Salesforce Classic and Salesforce Lightning Experience.With its dynamic components, modern appearance, and improved productivity tools, Lightning has quickly gained traction, whereas Classic was the standard user interface for many years. The differences between Classic and Lightning testing can have a big impact on your strategy, tools, and method. In this article we will discuss “How Do You Handle Testing in Salesforce Lightning vs Classic?”.
Understand the Core Differences
Before diving into testing techniques, it’s important to understand the UI differences between Classic and Lightning:
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- Salesforce Classic relies heavily on traditional HTML-based pages and simpler workflows.
- Salesforce Lightning uses modern web technologies like Aura and LWC (Lightning Web Components), resulting in dynamic pages, reusable components, and event-driven interactions.
These structural changes influence how testers execute functional, regression, and UI tests.
Testing in Salesforce Classic
Testing in Classic is more straightforward because the UI remains static. Testers often:
- Use Standard Automation Tools: Selenium, QTP, and TestComplete are compatible with Classic because they can quickly identify elements based on DOM structure.
- Follow Traditional Test Cases: Regression testing are stable because classic user interfaces don’t change significantly over time. As a result, teams can reuse scripts with just small modification over several iterations.
- Focus on Workflow Testing: Test cases for Classic focus on verifying data flow, business logic, and field validations because it relies on page-by-page navigation.
- Rely on Manual Testing for Low Complexity: Teams frequently manage simple scenarios manually without the need for complex scripts because Classic lacks many of Lightning’s dynamic features.
Testing in Salesforce Lightning
Lightning brings both power and complexity. Testers must adopt new strategies to address dynamic components, client-side rendering, and asynchronous behavior.
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- Adapt Test Automation Scripts: Lightning’s dynamic DOM is better handled by tools like Provar, Testim, Copado Robotic Testing, and Selenium with WebDriverWait than by older ones. To handle delayed loading, testers need to create reliable XPath/CSS selections and wait strategies.
- Validate Component-Based Architecture: Lightning breaks functionality into several parts. Both overall page interactions and functionality at the component level need to be tested by QA engineers.
- Handle Asynchronous Events: Page reloads are not necessary for many Lightning actions. Testers must build logic to wait for events or elements before asserting outcomes.
- Perform Cross-Browser and Device Testing: Testers need to verify responsive behavior and UI consistency across platforms because Lightning Experience supports both desktop and mobile views.
- Check JavaScript Performance and Errors: Lightning is far more dependent on JavaScript than Classic. To identify issues early, testers should keep an eye on the console log, network activity, and client-side exceptions to catch issues early.
Manual vs Automation: What Works Best?
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- In contexts with few UI changes, classic prefers manual and simple automation testing.
- Lightning’s complexity and frequent UI changes require greater test automation. Maintaining test coverage and identifying regressions more quickly are made possible by automation.
The most effective strategy is a hybrid one that automates consistent operations while manually conducting exploratory and usability testing.
Best Practices for Testing in Lightning vs Classic
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- Use Different Test Suites: Separate your Lightning and Classic test cases. Mixing the two may result in misalignment with UI updates or false positives.
- Stay Updated with Release Notes: Salesforce introduces triannual releases. Release notes should be reviewed by testers, who should then adjust their testing.
- Involve Developers in Testing: Unit tests with Jest or Jasmine are frequently required for lightning components. Work together with developers to guarantee thorough coverage.
- Monitor UI Performance: To identify rendering issues with Lightning, utilize Lighthouse, Chrome DevTools, or Salesforce’s Lightning Inspector.
Conclusion
Testing in Salesforce Classic is familiar and predictable, much like operating a trusted vintage vehicle. Testing in Lightning, on the other hand, is like operating a high-performance car; it’s more potent but requires more focus and expertise.
The technical foundations of each interface must be understood by testers in order to modify their automation tools, scripts, and testing approach appropriately. Teams can guarantee reliable business workflows and seamless user experiences in both Salesforce environments with the correct strategy.
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