Assertions and Validation
Soft Vs Hard Validation
Learning Outcome
5
Choose the right validation strategy for real-world automation
4
Understand the execution flow of both approaches
3
Identify when to use each validation type
2
Differentiate between Hard and Soft Validation.
1
Explain Validation in Playwright
Imagine passengers entering an airport
Every passenger must pass through security before boarding
Passenger A
Security finds a prohibited item
The passenger is immediately stopped
They cannot proceed further
Passenger A
Passenger B
A quality inspector is checking the airport facilities:
Display boards
Seating area
Washrooms
Food court
Security gates
Soft Validation behaves like a quality inspection. it continues checking everything and reports all failures together at the end.
Hard Validation behaves like airport security. it immediately stops further execution when a critical problem is detected.
What is Hard Validation?
Hard Validation immediately stops test execution when a validation fails
If one assertion fails:
Current test stops
Remaining steps are skipped
Test is marked as Failed.
assertThat(page).hasTitle("OrangeHRM");
Best Used For
What is Soft Validation?
Soft Validation continues test execution even if one or more validations fail.
All validations are executed
All failures are collected and reported together at the end
Playwright Java does not provide built-in Soft Assertions. A common approach is to use TestNG's SoftAssert
Hard Validation vs Soft Validation
Practical Scenario
Login Test (Hard Validation)
Login
Verify Dashboard
Stop if Dashboard verification fails
Dashboard Validation (Soft Validation)
Logo
Username
Welcome Message
Search Box
Notification Icon
Best Practice
Use Hard Validation for business-critical workflows
Use Soft Validation when validating multiple independent UI elements
Always call assertAll() when using SoftAssert; otherwise, failures are not reported
Choose the validation type based on the test objective, not personal preference
Summary
5
TestNG SoftAssert is commonly used for Soft Validation
4
Playwright Java supports Hard Assertions by default
3
Continues and reports all failures
2
Hard Validation stops execution immediately on failure
1
Validation compares expected and actual results
Quiz
Playwright Java supports which assertion type by default?
A. Soft Assertion
B. Hard Assertion
C. Dynamic Assertion
D. Conditional Assertion
Quiz-Answer
Playwright Java supports which assertion type by default?
A. Soft Assertion
B. Hard Assertion
C. Dynamic Assertion
D. Conditional Assertion
