Testing has become one of the most important parts of the modern application development process. The generic practice was to conduct all the test cases with the help of manual testing. However due to the rising complexity of the applications, the developer had to improve the test cases and introduce test automation. Using test automation, the developers can quickly execute the test cases by using automated test cases.
Automation testing is highly beneficial for repetitive test cases like regression testing and unit testing. There are various frameworks like Selenium that allows the developers to initiate automation testing on their applications. However, from a beginner’s point of view, Selenium can be quite confusing because it provides a series of different tools. So, with this article we will provide an elaborate Selenium tutorial for the beginners.
We will also discuss some of the best tools and platforms that can help the developers to improve the efficiency of their automated Selenium test cases.
Importance of Automation Testing
With the generic testing practices, the developers used to take almost several months to complete all the test cases involved in the application development lifecycle. However, due to the increasing competition in the market, it was very important for the developers to not only maintain the quality of the application but also deliver it in a short period. This is where automation testing started to gain popularity. Moreover, automation testing removes the stress of conducting repetitive test cases on the human testers. So, they can instead focus on the innovative areas of an application that can help to improve its features and provide necessary future updates. However, the developers must remember that the initial charges for introducing automation testing are quite high. So, it is an important practice to understand whether your business perspectives can sustain these expenses.
However due to the massive advantages of automation testing, developers often tend to overlook the importance of manual test cases. In reality, there are certain testing processes that are almost impossible to conduct without the intervention of a human tester. The best example to justify this claim is exploratory testing. With exploratory test cases, the developers detect errors in the application that are usually overlooked with automated test cases. Similarly visual testing relies on the knowledge and expertise of human developer to verify the proper placement of all the elements present in a web application. So, the best practice is to maintain a proper balance between automated testing and manual testing.
What is Selenium
Selenium is an automated test suite consisting of multiple different tools to perform automated test cases on web applications. Since it is an open-source tool, the developers do not have to pay any charges to use all of its features. All the tests performed with the help of Selenium are popularly known as Selenium automated test cases. The different tools present in the Selenium test suite are made for performing different testing processes on the web application. We will learn more about the components of Selenium in the latter part of this article. Selenium was initially known as JavaScriptTestRunner as it was based on the JavaScript programming language. This tool was later renamed as Selenium in the year 2004. Since its initial introduction, Selenium has managed to dominate the automation testing industry for almost a decade now.
The Components of the Selenium Test Suite
One of the major misbeliefs regarding Selenium is that it is a single tool. Selenium is a test suite that consists of multiple tools for performing different functions in the automated test cases. Let us discuss all the components of the Selenium test suite in detail:
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Selenium Integrated Development Environment
The Selenium integrated development environment initially came to the market in the year 2006. It was added as a sequential update to the Selenium test suite. Using this tool, the developers can record the user interactions on a web application and transform it into a test suite. This tool plays a major role in improving the accuracy of the Selenium automated test cases. Selenium IDE is compatible with almost all the popular browsers that are currently available.
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Selenium WebDriver
The Selenium WebDriver is one of the most important components for performing automation testing with the Selenium test suite. This is because this tool is not only responsible for introducing the automated test cases but also ensuring that they are executed on the proper web applications. The Selenium 4 update has added different features to improve the functioning of the Selenium WebDriver. It is an interesting fact that Selenium WebDriver was not present in the initial version of Selenium and was added as a sequential update to the second edition. The Selenium WebDriver is completely different to the Selenium remote controller. This is because Selenium WebDriver does not require a code engine for performing its basic functions. This tool can directly interact with all the elements present on the web application.
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Selenium Grid
Selenium grid allows the developers to perform parallel testing on their automated test cases. Parallel testing is a process of initiating multiple testing configurations side-by-side. Using this process, the developers can use different testing configurations at the same time. Therefore, parallel testing plays a vital role in decreasing the overall testing time for the application. The Selenium grid works on the concept of a hub that is connected to several individual nodes. After picking up a test case, the hub will automatically forward it to the respective node for the execution phase.
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Selenium Remote Controller
Selenium remote controller is an integral part that helps to improve the simplicity of the test case development process. This is because before the introduction of Selenium remote controller, the developers had to write the test cases in a native Selenese language. However, the Selenium remote controller now helps the developers to write the test cases in their preferred programming language. Some of the popular programming languages that are supported by Selenium remote controller are JavaScript, Python and Ruby.
Best Resources to Learn Selenium
1.LambdaTest
Lambdatest is a cloud-based testing platform to perform manual and automation testing of web and mobile applications. It ensures the cross-browser compatibility of web applications by checking for smooth performance irrespective of changes in operating system or browser version.
While using Selenium, Playwright, Appium, Espresso, LambdaTest allows the developers to execute the test cases on more than 3000+ different browser, browser versions, and operating systems. LambdaTest has various tutorial videos, step-by-step guides and sample tests to understand the working mechanism of Selenium. The LambdaTest Automation Blog provides all the latest data involving the modern trends in the world of automation testing.
2.SeleniumHQ
This is the official website for downloading, learning and looking for all the resources related to Selenium. This website provides all the detailed documentations related to Selenium and all of its features. The developers can also access the data on this website in any language according to their preferences. The website also provides video tutorial for most of the important automation testing processes.
3.Edureka
This is one of the fastest growing e-learning platforms. Edureka provides all the important documents and tutorials related to software development and testing processes. It has a comprehensive guide for setting up a Selenium test bench and begin developing the first test case. This website also provides some of the most important tricks that helps the developers to improve the efficiency of the Selenium test cases.
4.Guru99
Guru99 is a blog that mostly specializes in technology and software development. This website provides vital information on all the components and individual functioning of the Selenium test suite. It has various courses to get new developers accustomed to Selenium automation testing. It also provides live Selenium testing projects for better understanding of the concept.
5.DZone
DZone is one of the popular software developer and testing communities. It provides various Cheat Sheet libraries that helps the developers to utilize the full potential of an automation test bench. The blogs of this website will help the developers to get idea about all the commands, processes, programming languages and supported frameworks while working with Selenium.
6.SeleniumHQ Wiki
This website is a part of GitHub. It provides a documentary of 64 pages that helps the developers to get started with Selenium automation testing. It also provides sample codes that is highly essential to get a step-by-step learning tutorial for Selenium. The developers can also get detailed information about all the advanced code base related with Selenium.
7.Ultimate QA
This website was developed by an individual developer with a goal to create best quality assessment testers for the future generation. It provides all the vital information to create successful test cases while using automation testing. This website also continuously updates all the modern trends that start appearing in the application development industry.
8.Stack Overflow
Stack overflow is a free website to learn anything that is related to technology. It is one of the largest and most popular communities consisting of more than 50 million active users. All the professionals on this website are willing to share their knowledge with the new Selenium automation testers. It also provides the option to directly communicate with the community members and understand various Selenium concepts.
9.Selenium Easy
As the name suggests, this website was born with the intention to simplify the process of Selenium automation testing for new developers. It aims to provide free Selenium tutorial documentations and videos for beginners. It also provides step-by-step test execution guide with sample code for better understanding.
10.Reddit
Reddit is probably the largest community in the entire world. Many experts argue that there isn’t any form of data that isn’t available here. It has also a massive community of helpful people who are always willing to assist the newcomers. So, Reddit is also a great place to start improving your knowledge about Selenium automation testing. This website has no form of advertisement to elevate the level of user interaction.
The Conclusion
So, we can justify that automation testing is one of the most important practices of the modern app development market. However, a recent data shows that only 60% of companies have managed to transition to automation test cases. Therefore, it is advisable to the remaining companies should start shifting to this advanced mode of testing. This is highly critical to not only maintain a company stand in the market but also expand the potential customer base. The app developers should also have proper knowledge of Selenium and all of the modern testing trends. All the resources that we discussed in this article will help the new automation testers use and learn Selenium.