Posted on Oct 16 • Originally published at argos-ci.com In a fast-growing startup I'm part of, a question sparked intense debates among senior developers: with all the setup and maintenance time it cost, is E2E Testing really worth our time?We all prioritize fast delivery, and figuring out how to keep that momentum in long term was the crux of our chatsQuick note: The other perspective would be to bypass E2E, let a few bugs sneak by QA, and patched things up when they showed in production.End-to-end (E2E) tests are often seen as the gold standard in quality assurance. They replicate real user actions and make sure everything in the application runs smoothly. But in a startup environment, they can be a double-edged sword.Imagine investing hours crafting a detailed E2E test suite for a feature. The next week, based on new insights, that feature undergoes a revamp or is replaced entirely. Now, not only do you need to rewrite the feature, but you also have the unenviable task of overhauling the test suite. This cycle can be both mentally exhausting and time-consuming.To counter the challenges posed by E2E testing and its associated maintenance costs, we explored an alternative: visual testing.In the dynamic landscape of startups, where changes are frequent, visual testing emerges as the optimal solution. Here's why:Trust in Every Change: With visual testing, changes become transparent. Approve expected updates and reject unintended alterations.Minimal Effort, Maximum Coverage: Efficiently use one line of code to visually verify a full page's layout and content, eliminating the need for extensive scripts.Cut the Maintenance Chain: Even if your product evolves constantly, no need to update the test code. Simply approve or reject the updated screenshots.We've been using Argos for visual testing. It's a dev tool that allows to review the changes a pull request brings. It's easy to onboard and it slides right into our workflow.An example of Argos build, where the dev can review the PR's visual changes.While visual tests shine in adaptability, the value of E2E tests remains unmatched for mission-critical functionalities. The key is balance. For core features with less frequent changes, E2E tests guarantee stability. For others that are in flux, visual tests provide adequate coverage without the maintenance headache.In the fast-paced world of startup development, agility is critical. While robust testing remains essential, the type of testing needs to align with the product's stage and volatility. Visual testing provides the flexibility startups need without compromising on quality, making it a crucial part of any developer's toolkit today.Have you faced similar testing dilemmas in your startup? How did you navigate them? Share your experiences in the comments.Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use.Visual Testing offers an unparalleled cost-to-value ratio in the realm of software testing. It stands as the pinnacle in the testing hierarchy, delivering comprehensive results without the overhead typically associated with exhaustive testing methods. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well Confirm For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse Thierry Chau - Oct 5 Code_Jedi - Oct 14 An Architect - Oct 13 martinfernandezcx - Oct 3 Once suspended, jsfez will not be able to comment or publish posts until their suspension is removed. Once unsuspended, jsfez will be able to comment and publish posts again. Once unpublished, all posts by jsfez will become hidden and only accessible to themselves. If jsfez is not suspended, they can still re-publish their posts from their dashboard. Note: Once unpublished, this post will become invisible to the public and only accessible to Jeremy SFEZ. They can still re-publish the post if they are not suspended. Thanks for keeping DEV Community safe. Here is what you can do to flag jsfez: jsfez consistently posts content that violates DEV Community's code of conduct because it is harassing, offensive or spammy. Unflagging jsfez will restore default visibility to their posts. DEV Community — A constructive and inclusive social network for software developers. With you every step of your journey. Built on Forem — the open source software that powers DEV and other inclusive communities.Made with love and Ruby on Rails. DEV Community © 2016 - 2023. We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.