Selenium still makes its way to the discussion as we discuss Selenium automation research. Selenium automation is one of the best automation testing tools available and is well-liked by developers and testers around the globe. The issue remains, however, that many Selenium automation testing tools on the market yield almost the same results. But why Selenium only.?
Well, in the post, this is something that we are going to explore in-depth.
What does Selenium mean?
Let us first understand what Selenium is and why it is used before we dive deep into the advantages.
Well, Selenium is an open-source automation research tool useful to automate tests performed on various web browsers.
It has a range of resources that appeal to various Org needs. It has four different instruments:
- RC of Selenium
- IDE of Selenium (Selenium Integrated Development Environment)
- Grid Selenium
- WebDriver Selenium
Selenium WebDriver and Grid are currently fused into one, and this is what we're going to be talking about in this post.
Why do they use Selenium?
In essence, Selenium is used to simplify testing through different web browsers. It supports different browsers such as Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, and IE, and with Selenium WebDriver. Hence, you can very easily automate browser testing through these browsers.
On your computer screen, you can see live automated experiments being conducted. But as there are several resources available for Selenium automation research. Here, the issue that we will address in this article still stands.
To win this game, let's see what Selenium has to give us.
Benefits of using Selenium for automated tests
- Help Language and Structure
The first question that comes to mind when someone selects a tool is: "Does my tool supports the language that I know?"
Hence, this is not the case with Selenium technology in this regard. As it supports all the important coding languages for software testing with Selenium automation. Such as; Java, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, and Perl language.
In either of these programming languages, you can write your scripts, and Selenium converts them in no time to Selenium compatible codes. There is, therefore, no need to know Selenium only for languages. Also, each language supported by this technology has dedicated frameworks. This assists in writing the Selenium test or Selenium automation test script.
- Availability for Open Source
One of the many aspects that add to Selenium's benefits is its accessibility to open-source. Thus, being an open-source platform, Selenium is a Selenium automation system that is freely available and free, with no upfront costs. Therefore, here you can save bucks and use them for other good causes.
The Selenium group is actively helping developers and software engineers to simplify the functions and functionality of the web browser. Open source Selenium also allows you to modify the code for better code management and boost the functionality of predefined features and classes. This technology has been the most reliable feature for validating web Selenium automation software.
- Help for Multi-Browsers
"One Selenium script for all browsers" is what the Selenium community operates on every day and improvises. As per StatCounter, the most used browsers worldwide are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Edge. And the Selenium script is compatible with all the browsers listed. For every window, you don't need to rewrite scripts, just one script for all browsers.
- Help across various operating systems
Various individuals use various operating systems and all of them must be assisted by your Selenium automation tool. Selenium is yet a highly portable tool that supports and can operate across various operating systems like Windows, Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, etc.
You can build test suites for Selenium on any platform, such as Windows. And run the same test suite on another platform, such as Mac or Linux. This helps developers and software testers to quickly write scripts for test Selenium automation without putting much focus on the platform they are running on.
- Implementation Ease
The architecture for Selenium automation is a very easy-to-use instrument. Selenium offers a user-friendly interface that quickly and efficiently helps build and execute test scripts. You can watch when tests are running, too. Detailed records of Selenium samples can be analyzed and follow-up steps are taken.
And lastly, you're never going to feel alone. To support you in case of need, a huge Selenium group is always open.
- Integrations and Reusability
Selenium automation test suites are reusable, as stated earlier, and can be tested across several browsers and operating systems. The twist, however, is that Selenium is not an all-inclusive testing platform for web Selenium automation. Therefore, to extend the reach of research, it requires third-party frameworks and add-ons.
For example, for managing test cases and producing reports, you need to integrate Selenium with TestNG and JUnit. You'll need to combine it with certain CI/CD software, such as Jenkins, Maven, and Docker, to achieve continuous testing. You will need to combine Selenium with tools like Sikuli for performing image-based testing.
- Versatility
What is important in the testing lifecycle is test management. With Selenium features like regrouping and refactoring of test cases, it becomes easier and more effective. This allows developers and testers to modify the code easily, to avoid duplication, to eliminate complications, and to improve maintenance. In contrast to other Selenium automation testing methods, these features make Selenium more versatile and functional. And thus it allows this technology to retain an edge.
- Execution of parallel test and faster go-to-market
Saving time and effort is the main objective of automated testing. We can run multiple tests in parallel with the aid of Selenium Grid, thereby decreasing the execution time of the test. You can test through as many as hundreds of browsers in parallel using this technology. This is with the aid of cloud grids for cross-browser testing, saving you time in several hundred.
- Less Using Hardware
If you compare Selenium with other technology automation tools based on the manufacturer. Such as QTP, UFT, SilkTest, you can find that compared to other testing tools, Selenium needs less hardware.
- Simple to use and understand
To automate the functionality of your website, writing Selenium scripts is no more than writing a few pieces of code. Documentation on the Selenium website is also very helpful in starting Selenium automation testing for developers and testers. Testing and development assistance are only a Google search away from the radically growing community.
You can also use the record and play feature with the Selenium IDE extension on the Firefox browser. This helps to create Selenium scripts for future reference.
- Steady Updates
As Selenium is sponsored by a community and we all know that an active community would not want to remain stagnant, continuous updates and enhancements are also continuously released by the Selenium community. The best thing about having a group is that these improvements are easily accessible and easy to understand. So, you don't need any particular training. As opposed to other instruments, this makes this technology resourceful and cost-effective too.
Ending Note
When it comes to choosing something from a lot of choices, we all know we are very selective. We are much more careful when it comes to choosing a tool. So you can take your chance here. Selenium automation testing is much better for web app testing in an automation ecosystem. Hence, this can be learned through Selenium online training.
If you are inspired to do training on Selenium, the FITA is the most trustworthy Institute that offers the best Selenium Training in Chennai, Selenium Training in Bangalore and Selenium Online Training.
