Automation Testing has become the backbone of the application Development Industry. Due to the rising complexity of applications, it has become impossible for developers to verify their proper functioning with complete manual test cases. With the help of automation testing, the developers can verify the functioning of the application with automated test scripts. There are various test automation frameworks available in the market. Selenium is the oldest and most famous competitor in this segment. There are various features offered by Selenium that are almost impossible for a beginner to know. So, this article will be a Selenium testing tutorial for all the developers who are new to the test automation industry. We will also discuss some of the best practices that can help developers to improve their testing standards.
The Base of Selenium
Selenium is an umbrella project for the automation of web application test cases. It is completely open source which means that all of the Selenium tools are available completely free of cost. The playback tool provided by Selenium helps developers to create test cases for verifying the functioning of modern web applications. One of the major advantages of this test automation tool is that the testers do not need to have any specific knowledge of programming languages for using it. The developers can use this testing tool on all desktop platforms like Windows, Linux, and Mac Operating System. It supports almost all the popular programming languages like JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and many others. Since its initial introduction in 2004, Selenium has made a lot of contributions to the application Development Industry.
The latest version of Selenium is Selenium 4. This new version has added several features for improving the end-user testing experience. Selenium also allows developers to integrate multiple third-party tools and libraries for improving the testing experience. We will learn more about the role of different tools and platforms in the later part of this article.
Different Tools in the Selenium Suite
One of the most important things that developers need to understand is that isn't a stand-alone tool. Instead, it is a suite of multiple tools that are meant for serving different purposes in the application testing process. So, let us take a detailed look at the different components that are present in the Selenium test suite:
Selenium Integrated Development Environment
Selenium integrated development environment is a testing tool available as a browser extension on popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox. Using this extension, the developers can perform all the basic testing applications from the browser itself. However, it is worth noting that after the latest update of Mozilla Firefox, Selenium integrated development environment has removed its support from it. However, after the launch of Selenium 4, you can use it on Firefox as an integrated test box. Katalon recorder and Kantu are two alternatives of the Selenium integrated development environment that are maintained by Selenium itself.
Selenium Client API
Other than writing the test cases in the Selenese language, the developers also have the option to write them in other programming languages of their choice. Then, these test cases can communicate with the Selenium server using the client API. Currently, Selenium has client API for Java, Ruby, Python, C#, JavaScript, and R programming languages. Selenium also introduced a new client API with the Selenium 4 update. However, it also continues to maintain its support for older APIs as well.
Selenium Remote Control
The Selenium WebDriver was a component of the first release of the Selenium test suite. Using this tool, the developers can integrate the test cases with the HTTP protocol and run them on the browser window. It was an important function that helped the developers to verify the functioning of the visual elements present in a web application. However, the Selenium remote control was removed with the second version of Selenium. This was because it was replaced by the Selenium WebDriver which further improved its functioning.
Selenium WebDriver
The Selenium WebDriver is the core of the entire Selenium test suite. It helps the developers to write all the test cases that can control and execute them according to the requirements of the project and the respective Browser. In June 2018, Selenium WebDriver was made an internet standard for verifying the optimal functioning of web applications. Currently, the WebDriver supports almost all the popular programming languages and web libraries. One of the major advantages of the WebDriver is that it does not need any special server to execute the test cases. This flexibility helped the developers to introduce advanced features in their web applications.
Selenium Grid
The Selenium grid is a tool that allows test cases to utilize web instances present on remote servers. While using the Selenium grid, one of the servers will act as a central hub controlling all other instances. The Selenium grid allows the developers to run the test cases in a parallel circuit on multiple different machines. The developers can also use multiple combinations of different operating systems, browser versions, and devices for proper evaluation of the application's functioning. Remote testing helps the developers to spread the load on different machines and helps to improve the efficiency of the testing process. Different machines are also useful for running browsers that do not support the same platform.
Advantages of Using Selenium
Some of the major advantages of using the Selenium test Suite are as follows:
- It supports almost all of the programming languages that are available in the market.
- The open-source nature of Selenium helps small companies and individual creators access it.
- It supports almost all the popular operating systems like Mac, Windows, and Linux.
- Selenium provides access to almost all browsers available in the market. It even provides support to Legacy Browsers and outdated browser versions.
- Selenium receives constant updates that keep on improving its performance and optimizes the testing experience.
- The developers can reuse a huge portion of Selenium test cases in future development projects. It is also very easy and economical to maintain Selenium test cases.
- Selenium test cases can also be used for verifying the functioning of web applications on mobile devices like Android, Blackberry, and iOS.
Disadvantages of Using Selenium
Like every other thing in this world, Selenium also has its share of disadvantages. Some of the common downsides that beginners must be aware of are as follows:
- Developers can use Selenium to check the functioning of only web applications. This means Selenium does not support the testing of native, hybrid or cross-platform applications.
- Selenium test cases require a large number of node servers. This process can often lead to a loss in performance and efficiency of the test cases.
- The initial execution of parallel test cases requires a considerably higher amount of time. Moreover, Selenium requires a longer setup time compared to other competitors that are available in the market.
- During the Selenium testing of web applications, it cannot access the elements that are present on other websites.
- Selenium does not have any availability of direct customer support. This means the developers have to rely on consumer communities to get any help regarding this test suite.
How to Get Started with Selenium testing
To perform automated web application testing with the help of Selenium, the developers have to follow the simple steps given below:
- The first step in this process is to download all the Selenium components from the official website. The developers have to install them on their testing machines.
- It is also important to install the language binding libraries for the preferred programming language.
- The developers should also have the access to their preferred browsers for testing. They should also have all the updated browser drivers to ensure the smooth execution of the test cases.
- Selenium offers various commands like explicit and implicit wait to improve the testing experience for the developers. So, the testers need to have a proper idea of all the available commands.
- The final step in this process is to write a Selenium test code for verifying the functioning of an element present on the web application. The developers can execute this code in the dedicated terminal window of the Selenium test suite.
Best Tools and Platforms for Selenium
Tools play a vital role in improving the efficiency of Selenium test cases. There are thousands of Selenium-based tools that are currently available in the market. Certain tools also allow developers to integrate cloud platforms in their testbench. Cloud platforms help developers to initiate test cases from anywhere in the world. This platform also eliminates the hassle of maintaining a physical device testing lab. Using cloud platforms, the developers can also verify the functioning of the application on certain devices that are no longer available in the market. Some of the important factors that the developers must consider during the tool’s selection process are the support for programming languages, availability of third-party integration, and average license fee. We can use LambdaTest to understand how a proper tool can influence your testing experience.
LambdaTest is a cloud-based platform that helps developers to verify the cross-browser compatibility of modern web applications. For beginners, cross-browser testing is the process of verifying whether your web application can function normally irrespective of changes in the operating system, Browser version, or the base device. LambdaTest offers unique features like parallel execution of test cases for improving the efficiency of the testing process. Using this process, the developers can initiate different browser test instances at the same time. Using this platform, the developers can run the Selenium test cases on more than 3000 different browsers. LambdaTest can also verify the proper functioning of local web pages.
There are also multiple other tools like LambdaTest that you can choose depending on your requirements.
The Conclusion
So, we can conclude that having a proper idea of Selenium testing is one of the most important requirements of the modern application Development Industry. The developers should also have a constant idea about all the recent trends that are emerging in this market. It is also very important for application development companies to spread proper knowledge regarding the importance of Selenium automation. The developers should also remember that it is very important to maintain a proper balance between automation testing and manual testing. This is because there are certain forms of testing like exploratory testing and visual testing that are impossible to conduct without a human tester. Lastly, the testers need to choose the perfect Selenium test automation tool so that they can use the full potential of the application testing framework,
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