What is Selenium Web Driver?

Introduction to Selenium Web Driver

Selenium Web Driver is one of the many types of selenium frameworks, which can be defined as a Test Automation Tool used to test web-based applications. Web Driver can be worked for cross-browser testing, wherein the test scripts can be written in any programming language depending on the comfort of the testing professional. It is outstanding in performance and faster than the previous selenium tool, which is Selenium RC.

It was developed by Simon Stewart at a time when web servers and browsers are being used mostly. This web driver can also be defined as the first platform which can be operated from the OS level. Users can also write commands to execute tests in selenium web testing. This web driver also allows us to execute tests against various browsers, unlike selenium IDE, which can only be run in Mozilla Firefox.

This can be used in browsers such as:

• Safari
• Internet explorer
• Opera browser
• Ghost driver
• Google chrome
• Mozilla firefox

Understanding

Among all the four components of selenium software, Web-driver is the most important and most used driver because it can be run in various browsers. It is a cross-platform where you can perform operations even from the OS level. It is also called an extended version of RC as it provides a very friendly and easy-to-understand API, which makes our programs to be written and maintained easily. It will directly communicate with the browsers when you execute the code. This is also used to create advanced test cases.

It can also be run in various languages such as:

• Java
• C#
• Python
• PHP
• Perl
• Ruby

This is supported by operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris.

Selenium Architecture

This architecture is much simple than other selenium architectures. All we need is a browser and programming language IDE. Using web driver architecture, we can execute our tests across different browsers at a time. Jason Huggins developed the Selenium web driver in the easiest and simplest way. This is user-friendly; Users can easily understand the way it works and the way to execute their tests.

It is an automation framework that enables to test of web browsers or web applications to execute bug-free web applications. The architecture of selenium assists in automating the testing of web applications to cross-check whether it provides the required output or not. The browsers such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Ghost Driver, Opera Browser, and Mozilla Firefox can be tested and supported using the selenium web driver.

Why was Selenium Web Driver Created?

Before this, we used selenium RC, which is much complicated than selenium web driver. In Selenium RC, we need to launch a separate application called Selenium RC driver before starting testing the program. Selenium RC used to act as a barrier between the user and the browser. If we want to test a program first, we need to start the selenium RC driver, and then Selenium RC will send the executable program to the browser. To overcome these challenges, Jason Huggins developed selenium web drivers. This will help users to interact directly with the browser. In these web drivers, we don’t need any barrier to execute our tests. To make it simple and easy for users, the Selenium Web driver was developed.

Advantages

Given below are the advantages of using a web driver:

• When compared to Selenium RC, the installation process is clear and simple.
• Selenium is an open-source and free tool.
• It communicates directly with the browser.
• The cost of handling is less.
• Web driver can be operated from web OS and is faster when compared to Selenium RC.
• No need for a server in web driver usage.
• Easily finds the coordinates of an object.
• We can initiate the movement of a mouse with the help of selenium.
• Involvement of the browser is more realistic and creative.
• All the tests can be performed with the help of inbuilt components.
• The code is written in simple, clear, and less time consuming; hence business extender.

Disadvantages

Given below are the disadvantages mentioned

• The installation process is a bit complex when compared to selenium IDE, but once installed can be used any number of times.
• To handle this needs a basic understanding of programming language.
• We can run only web-based applications.
• Automation of Audio and Video test cases cannot be done
• The support provided is less when compared to other testing tools.
• If any problem arises, it should be manually checked and solved.
• It needs to depend on other tools for writing scripts like Eclipse.

Who Should Learn about Selenium Web Driver?

It is most important for web developers; they will test their web-based applications on different browsers, so every web developer should learn about selenium web drivers. This adds an advantage for developers in executing their programs. Selenium web drive saves a lot of time for developers in executing their web applications. The testers with extreme knowledge and who are enthusiastic about enhancing their career can choose and should have an in-depth glance at this selenium web driver, which will scrutinize their testing skills. It adds value to their testing performance and reduces the burden.

Conclusion

It is an advanced level of selenium RC. Using a selenium web driver, we can test our program on different browsers at a time without any external software or plugin. Selenium web driver is used to test web-based applications like HTML, PHP, JAVA, C, PERL, and RUBY. Selenium web driver made web developers testing easier. They need not use any other software to execute their web-based applications.

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