Test Independence
// Definition
Each test sets up its own state and doesn't depend on others — order can change, parallelisation works, a single failure doesn't cascade. The non-negotiable property for a maintainable test suite.
// Related terms
Parallel Testing
Running multiple tests concurrently to reduce wall-clock time. Requires test independence — shared state will cause non-deterministic failures.
Test Fixture
A known, fixed state used as a baseline for tests — sample data, a seeded database, or a configured environment that ensures repeatability across runs.
Flaky Test
A test that passes and fails intermittently without any code changes, often caused by timing issues, shared state, async race conditions, or external dependencies. The single largest source of CI noise.
Learn more · Cypress with TypeScript
Chapter 9 · Lesson 4: Maintaining and Scaling Your Test Suite