What is Selenium?

Introduction

When a non-technical person sees the word selenium, the thought that comes to his mind is that it is one of the elements in the periodic table. But for a technical person, It is a software suite used for testing the web browser applications across different browsers and platforms.

Definition

It is a software suite used for automated testing of web applications. It is an open (free) source software suite for performing the test on web applications only. There are many similar tools that perform the same task but Selenium is preferred due to its high speed and efficiency. It runs in many browsers and operating systems. It can be controlled by various frameworks and programming languages.

Understanding Selenium

It is a suite of software’s each having different approaches to support the testing.

It has Four Components:

1. Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
2. Selenium Remote Control (RC)
3. WebDriver
4. Selenium Grid

Components

Now lets us discuss each component briefly:

1. Selenium IDE:

It was created by Shinya Kastani of Japan. It is a Firefox plugin to create test cases faster. It can automate the browser using record – and – playback feature. In this test cases are created by recording the user’s interaction with the web browser and then these test cases can be played back any number of times.

It has an advantage that recorded test cases can be exported in different programming languages but it is used as a prototype for writing only simple test cases.

2. Selenium Remote Control:

It was created by Paul Hammant to overcome the issue of SOP (same origin policy). This policy prohibits JavaScript code to access the elements of the domain other than the parent domain. So Paul created RC to act as an HTTP proxy to make the browser believe that the Selenium core and web application to be tested are from the same domain. It is also called as Selenium 1.

3. WebDriver:

It was created by Simon Stewart in 2006. It was the first testing framework that was cross-platform and that could control the browser from the OS level. It is more efficient than both the Selenium IDE and RC as it is faster than both. It does not rely on JavaScript for automation purpose, it directly communicates with the browser to control it.

4. Selenium Grid:

It was developed by Patrick Lightbody. It is used together with Selenium RC to run tests on remote machines. It can run parallel tests (multiple tests) across different browsers and machines at the same time. It saves time and increases efficiency.

Working with Selenium

It is a web application testing software suite comprising four components. Now while working with Selenium, the first task is to appropriately choose the right tool among the four according to your needs.

Now we will discuss when to work with which tool:

1. Selenium IDE:

• Use when to learn basic concepts of automated testing and Selenium such as:

1. Commands like open, type, assert, verify, clickAndWait etc.
2. Locators
3. How to export test cases in different formats

• Use to create simple test cases that can be exported to RC or Driver later on.
• Use to test web applications against Firefox.
• Use when you have little or no prior knowledge in programming.

2. Selenium Remote Control:

• Use when you want to run your test against different browsers.
• Use when you want to test your web application against a new browser that supports JavaScript.
• Use when you test across multiple environments using Selenium Grid
• Use when you test your web applications with AJAX – based scenarios.
• Use when you use the language other than Selenese.

3. WebDriver:

• Use when you want to use a programming language to design your test cases.
• Use when you want customized results.
• Use when you want to test web applications having AJAX – based functionalities.
• Use when you want to execute tests on the HtmlUnit browser.

4. Selenium Grid:

• Use to run your Selenium RC scripts in different browsers and different operating systems at the same time.
• Use to run a huge test suite.

Advantages

• Flexibility
• Extensibility
• Open source, no licensing cost
• Supports test scripts written in various programming languages.
• Test case execution on multiple operating systems
• Parallel and distributed testing
• Supports many browsers
• Non-programmers can also use it by using record and playback feature

Required Skills

• A basic concept of any one programming language preferably java, python and C#
• Knowledge of software testing
• Knowledge of manual testing
• Knowledge of automation process
• SQL Knowledge

Why should we use Selenium?

• It can be operated on almost every operating system.
• It is cost effective.
• It supports multiple programming languages like Java, C#, Python, Pearl, Ruby, PHP and .NET
• Test scripts can be developed in any of the languages that Selenium supports.
• It supports many browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8.
• Many numbers of robust methods for the location of elements like DOM.
• It is easy to implement frameworks related to object-oriented programming.
• It provides support for the integration of frameworks such as JUnit, NUnit and many more.
• It supports Parallel testing.

Scope

In today’s time, Automation Testing is leading in the market. It has a wider scope for technical people or people want testing as a profession. The trend is continuously changing and it is making its way into this change as it is an open source and anyone can contribute and learn it easily.

It is very efficient for the people involved in manual testing. It would help them to convert written test cases into automation scripts which will reduce the time and increase their efficiency.

Who is the right audience for learning Selenium technologies?

Anyone who has knowledge of programming can learn Selenium. You must learn any one programming language preferably Java or C# before learning this technology. Non-programmers can use Selenium IDE but it would be efficient if some prior knowledge of any programming language is available.

How this technology will help you in career growth?

There is huge growth in the career as far as Selenium is concerned. The average salary of a software tester ranges from $45,993 to $ 74,935 in the US. If we talk about India, it ranges from Rs 247,315 to Rs 449,111.

Conclusion

If you are interested in automated web application testing then Selenium is the best option. Its popularity is increasing with an increase in its use. So it must be the first choice to learn for people interested to be an automation tester.

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