What is Selenium Automation Testing: Getting Started with Automation Testing

The most important stage of software development is testing, which has as its major goal to ensure that the finished product is bug-free and meets client expectations. Due to the manual execution of test cases against numerous applications to find faults and problems, testing is physically demanding.

Manual Testing Challenges and the Coming of Selenium

Describe selenium.

Why is Selenium a Testing Tool that is So Popular?

Selenium Tools Suite

Benefits of Testing for Selenium

Roles and Salary Limitations for Selenium Testing

Real-World Selenium Suite Examples to Help You Master It

But what if the testing procedure could be automated? It would become less monotonous if it did that, and Selenium Automation Testing accomplishes this.

You've come to the right place if you want to learn more about Selenium and automation testing in general.

Before we learn more about Selenium, let's examine the difficulties associated with manual testing.

The difficulties of manual testing

One of the more basic methods of software testing is manual testing. It can practically test any application and doesn't require knowledge of any software testing tools.

Manually running test cases against apps allows the tester to compare the outcomes to what is desired. Any discrepancies between the two are viewed as flaws and are corrected right away. The tests are then repeated to guarantee an application free of any errors.

However, manual testing has its own disadvantages, some of which can be as follows:

• This process takes a long time.
• Errors are very likely to occur.
• A tester must be present at all times.
• requires creating logs by hand.
• has a constrained range

Given all the negative aspects, there was an urgent need to automate the testing procedure. Before we examine what Selenium is, let's first understand how it came about.

Arrival of Selenium

Engineer Jason Huggins at ThoughtWorks in Chicago thought manual testing was tedious and repetitious. To automate the testing of a web application, he created the JavaScriptTestRunner tool.

The innovative invention was initially used by Thoughtworks staff. However, Selenium was given a new name and became open source in 2004. Selenium has been a potent automation testing tool to test diverse web applications across numerous platforms since its beginnings.

Describe selenium.

Web applications can be tested using Selenium, an open-source, automated testing tool. Unfortunately, Selenium can only test online applications, so testing of desktop and mobile apps is not possible. To test software and mobile applications, though, there are alternative tools available, including HP's QTP and Appium.

Why is Selenium a Testing Tool that is So Popular?

• Since Selenium was primarily created in JavaScript, it is simple to utilise.
• Web applications can be tested using Selenium against a variety of browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari.
• Numerous programming languages, including Java, Python, Perl, PHP, and Ruby, can be used to create tests.
• Platform independence allows Selenium to run on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh.
• For test management, Selenium can be linked with programmes like JUnit and TestNG.

Let's examine the Selenium toolkit now that we are familiar with what Selenium is.

Selenium Tools Suite

The dedicated Selenium suite makes it simple to test web applications.

Integrated Development Environment for Selenium (IDE)

Selenium IDE is a Firefox or Chrome browser extension created by Shinya Kasatani in 2006 that automates functions. In most cases, the IDE logs user actions in the browser and exports them into a script that may be reused.

IDE was created to facilitate the rapid development of automation scripts. It is a rapid prototyping tool that engineers without any programming experience may use.

When Firefox switched to a new version, Firefox 55, which no longer supported Selenium IDE, IDE ceased to exist in August 2017. In 2019, Applitools updated the outdated Selenium IDE and released it. The most recent version included a number of improvements.

There are a few issues with Selenium IDE:

• It is not compatible with data-driven testing.
• It is unable to do database testing.
• It is unable to deliver an in-depth test report.
• It is incompatible with WebDriver script export.

Remote control for selenium (RC)

Selenium Remote Control was created by Paul Hammant (RC). It's crucial to understand the origins of RC before getting started.

A tool called Selenium-Core was initially created. It was a collection of JavaScript functions that used the built-in JavaScript interpreter in the browser to decipher and carry out Selenese commands. The web browser was then given an injection of Selenium-Core.

Consider the JavaScript file test.js that Google.com uses as an example. Within the google.com domain, this software can visit pages like google.com/mail or google.com/login.

The application is unable to access resources on other sites like yahoo.com, though. The web browser and Selenium-Core required to be installed locally in order for them to share the same domain. This restriction is known as the Same Origin Policy, and Selenium RC was created to work around it. The browser is "tricked" into thinking Selenium Core and the web application under test are coming from the same origin by the server, which serves as a client-configured HTTP proxy.

As a result, Selenium RC is a Java server that allows for the creation of application tests in a variety of computer languages, including Java, C#, Perl, PHP, Python, etc. The Selenium-Core JavaScript commands are passed to the browser by the RC server after being received from the user programme.

WebDriver for Selenium

Selenium WebDriver, created by Simon Stewart in 2006, was the first cross-platform testing framework capable of configuring and managing browsers at the OS level. In order to design and execute test cases, it acted as a programming interface.

In contrast to Selenium RC, WebDriver interacts with browser applications natively and doesn't need a core engine like RC. WebDriver may be connected with frameworks like TestNG and JUnit for test management, and it supports a number of programming languages including Python, Ruby, PHP, and Perl, among others.

• Selenium test script - A Selenium test script is test code created in any interpretable programming language, including Java, Perl, PHP, and Python.
• Data can be transferred between a server and a client using the JSON Wire Protocol, which offers a transport method for doing so. For many types of web services, JSON Wire Protocol serves as the industry standard.
• Browser drivers: Selenium creates a secure connection with the browser using drivers unique to each browser.
• Browsers: To test and run applications, Selenium WebDriver supports a number of web browsers.

Selenium Grid

A grid was created by Patrick Lightbody with the main goal of speeding up test execution. The simultaneous distribution of the test commands to many machines made this possible. Selenium Grid enables the concurrent execution of tests across several operating systems and browsers. Grid is incredibly adaptable and interfaces with other elements of the suite for concurrent execution.

The Grid is made up of a hub and multiple connected nodes. It chooses a node that complies with the requirements (browser and platform), passes the test to that node, and receives the test to be executed together with details about the operating system and browser to be used. At this point, the node launches the browser and carries out the selenium instructions inside of it.

Let's explore the benefits of Selenium testing after learning what it is.

Benefits of Testing for Selenium

Selenium automated testing has a number of advantages, including:

• Selenium has demonstrated accuracy with outcomes, making it very trustworthy.
• Due to Selenium's open-source nature, anyone who wants to study testing can do so for free.
• Python, PHP, Perl, and Ruby are just a few of the many programming languages that Selenium supports.
• Selenium supports a number of browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.
• Selenium is simple to use and doesn't require an engineer to have a deep understanding of the software.
• Selenium has several reusable components and add-ons.

Let's comprehend the Selenium testing constraints as a crucial component of comprehending what Selenium is.

Testing for Selenium's drawbacks

Selenium has a few drawbacks, some of which include:

• Due to the fact that Selenium is open-source, it lacks a developer community and therefore unreliable technical support.
• Selenium is unable to test desktop or mobile applications.
• Selenium provides only limited assistance for testing images.
• Testing management is only partially supported by Selenium. For this, Selenium is frequently combined with instruments like JUnit and TestNG.
• To utilise Selenium, you might need to have some programming language skills.

Job Positions and Pay

After learning more about Selenium, what are some potential career paths and the typical pay for a Selenium test engineer?

Primary Goals of a Selenium Test Engineer

• Create test scenarios to find faults and mistakes.
• Designing and implementing an automation framework in accordance with the project structure
• Enhance and automate testing procedures
• Take part in spreading the word about good practises.
• Develop test methodologies and test guides to identify and address software bugs.

Salaries for automation engineers

Automation engineers make an average of $5,24,090 per year in India and $90,390 per year in the United States.

Real-World Selenium Suite Examples to Help You Master It

Visit Syntax Technologies' Selenium Tutorial for Beginners, which also explains Selenium Automated Testing, to find out more about Selenium and how the various suite components operate.

Are you thinking about becoming an automation engineer? Check out Syntax Technologies' Selenium Certification Training to learn how to master the entire Selenium suite. A certification course will come in handy for sure.

It's best for: to take the Selenium Certification course.

• test supervisors
• Engineers in Test
• Lead Tests
• Analysts of tests
• QA specialists
• Software Professionals
• engineers interested in learning about automation testing

Syntax Technologies is all about providing people with another chance in an IT career. It has expanded its premise since its inception in 2017 and is proud to provide top notched training in some of the most in-demand domains of the tech industry.