Selenium testing – a tool to automate web application testing

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Digitization

10 reading minutes

Selenium testing enables fast and repeatable testing of web applications. Currently, there are several tools for testing browser web applications, one of which is the Selenium test. What are its advantages and why should you know how to use it? Testing is definitely one of the most important parts of software and application development. An IT tester consultant or specialist, checks that everything is working as it should and that the user doesn’t accidentally run into an error that could limit their use of the application.

What is Selenium?

Selenium or Selenium testing is a free (open-source) framework for automated testing. Selenium is used for testing web applications in different browsers and on different platforms. Selenium testing has several tools designed for testing, each of which targets different specific needs. These include tools such as:

• Selenium WebDriver. It’s an interface for writing instructions that work with each other in different browsers. This is implemented through a browser driver (browser-specific) that sends commands to the browser and gets results. Currently, Selenium WebDriver is merged with Selenium RC into a common framework and together they form Selenium 2.
• Selenium IDE. It is a complete integrated development environment (IDE) for Selenium testing. It allows recording, editing and debugging functional tests. Scripts are recorded in Selenese, a special test scripting language for Selenium. Selenese provides commands to perform actions in the browser (click a link, select an option) and to retrieve data from the resulting pages.
• Selenium Grid. It is a server that allows tests to use web browser instances running on remote machines. It acts as a center (or hub) that tests contact to access browser instances. The hub has a list of servers that provide access to browser instances (WebDriver nodes) and allows tests to use these instances. Selenium Grid allows tests to run in parallel on multiple machines and centrally manage different browser versions and browser configurations (instead of setting them up for each individual test). This is a useful solution in terms of spreading the test load over multiple computers and compatibility, i.e. the possibility of running tests in browsers running on different platforms or operating systems.

One of Selenium benefits is that it supports multiple programming languages which include Java programming language, C#, Python, PHP and many more.

Selenium IDE – the ideal tool for simple tests

Selenium IDE is the simplest tool in the Selenium package, making it ideal for beginners. It is a plug-in for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox that you can easily install along with other add-ons. However, Selenium IDE is only used for simple tests. If you want to do advanced tests, you’ll need to download Selenium WebDriver. Among browsers, the IDE supports the aforementioned Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, and among operating systems, Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

How Selenium IDE works?

First you need to download the Selenium tester. Then open one of the browsers, for example Firefox, click on the menu in the top right corner and then click on Add-ons. Select Find more add-ons, where you type Selenium IDE. Finally, just click Add to Firefox and you’re done. Once installed, the Selenium IDE icon will appear in the top right corner of your browser. When you click on it, you will see a welcome message. After closing it, create a new test for a new project. First, enter a project name and a valid URL. Once you have entered it, you can run the test. When the test is finished, don’t forget to save your work. Click on the small floppy disk in the upper right corner of the tool. Once clicked, you will be presented with a choice of where you can save the project. Select a location and save the file. You should have a file with the extension .side on your desktop or in the folder where you saved the test. Selenium IDE is a tool that does not require any complicated installation. For other tools, the whole process is a bit more complicated. Summary:

Selenium IDE is great for creating simple test cases and packages with little or no prior programming knowledge that can be exported to RC or WebDriver in a variety of formats.

Selenium WebDriver – a more stable testing approach

Selenium WebDriver provides a more modern and robust approach to test automation. Unlike RC, it does not rely on JavaScript for testing. It controls the browser by interacting with it directly. It supports the same programming languages as RC. Of the browsers it supports:

• Internet Explorer, versions 6 to 11,
• Microsoft Edge, version 12.10240 and above,
• Firefox 3.0 and above,
• Google Chrome 12.0 and above,
• Opera 11.5 and above,
• Android 2.3 and above,
• iOS 3.0 and above for phones and 3.2 and above for tablets,
• HtmlUnit 2.9 and above.

Of the operating systems, it supports all the browsers listed above.

How to use Selenium WebDriver?

First you need to download and install Java 8 or newer version. Then install the latest version of Eclipse IDE. Double click to open the downloaded file, which should be in zip format. Of all the files that are in the zip file, click on Eclipse. After clicking on Eclipse, select the directory where you want to save all your projects and click on the Launch icon. Then download the Selenium WebDriver Java Client consisting of the JAR files you will need to configure with the Eclipse IDE. In Eclipse, create a new project, enter a name and select the JRE you want to use. Then select the Project layout and click Finish. In the next step, right-click on the newly created project. Select New and Package. When you click, a popup window will appear where you enter the package name and click Finish. Then right click on the new package you made, select New and Class. A new window will pop up where you enter the name of the class and click Finish. Next, you need to solve what’s called the Java Build Path. Right-click on your project and select Properties. In the window that opens, click on Java Build Path, select Libraries and Add External JARs. When you click this option, a new window will open. Select the folder where you saved the JAR files. First, select the ones that should start with the name client. Then open the window again and click on the folder called libs. There you will find several files with the .jar extension. Select them all. When you’re done, just click the Apply and Close button. You have now successfully configured WebDriver with the Eclipse IDE. Now you can go ahead and create your first test. Summary:

To create customized test results, to test applications that are rich in AJAX-based features.

When designing a test case, use requires some knowledge of the programming language.

Selenium RC – also suitable for complicated tests

Selenium RC was for a long time the flagship of the entire Selenium range. It was the first automated web-based testing tool that allowed users to apply a programming language to their needs. As of version 2.25.0, RC supports the following programming languages:

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

What is the purpose of the Selenium Python tool combination?

The implementation of Selenium using Python programming language is designed to automate web application testing. This approach allows the creation of automation scripts in Python that drive a web browser and perform various test scenarios or website interaction tasks. The “Selenium Python” use case allows you to combine the power of Selenium automation testing for web test automation with the flexibility and simplicity of Python. Selenium testing enables the creation of automated tests that can be run repeatedly, allowing automated verification that a web application is working properly. It creates test scripts that perform various actions such as clicks, filling out forms, navigating between pages and verifying expected web application behavior. This way, you can create robust and flexible tests, simplify repeatable testing tasks and increase the efficiency of the development process for the aforementioned web applications.

What do we use the Selenium Java tool combination for?

Using the popular combination of Java with Selenium programming language to program and test web applications can be easy, but it depends on several factors such as experience with Java programming and being familiar with web browser automation concepts. The powerful combination of “Selenium using Java” represents a significant purposeful combination of tools that is widely used and multi-purpose for the following purposes:

• Test frameworks,
• Page Object Model (POM),
• Integration into the CI/CD Pipeline process,
• Web Application Development and Debugging.

It is also possible to use Selenium Jenkins with an open-source tool for automated downloading (continuous integration), the process of merging code changes, automatically testing and compiling them from multiple contributors into a single software project. Likewise, in combination with other tools such as Selenium Maven, Selenium Kubernetes, Selenium Kotlin and many others used for specific testing purposes. Summary:

Selenium Grid can be used to create more complex tests using Selenese language, then to test web applications that are based on AJAX technology. Selenium Grid is also used to deploy tests in a variety of environments.

Selenium Grid – the best for parallel testing

Selenium Grid is used to run parallel tests on different computers and browsers at the same time. This is all done thanks to the Selenium standalone server application that runs on Java, which saves time and speeds up the whole process. It’s not complicated to use, but you do need some programming experience to use it.

How to use Selenium Grid?

Before using Selenium Grid, you must download the Selenium Server Standalone package. This package contains the Hub, WebDriver and RC that is required to run the Grid. In addition, remember that you need to have Java installed and configured to run Selenium Grid. In the next step, you need to set up the Selenium Hub, which is the central point in the Selenium Grid. It receives requests from the client and is used to route JSON test commands. You start the Hub by opening a command prompt and using the command java -jar selenium-server-standalone-<version>.jar -role hub to navigate to the directory where the Standalone Selenium Server JAR file is stored. This will start the Hub by default. Then you just need to configure the Selenium Grid and start using it in browsers. Summary:

Run Selenium RC scripts in multiple browsers and operating systems at the same time.

Also suitable for running test suites in parallel that need to be completed in the shortest possible time.

Why use Selenium testing for automated software testing?

A tester of software like Selenium has many advantages for any programmer. By automatically testing applications, it saves you a lot of work that you would have to do manually. Another big plus of Selenium IT tester compared to other testers is that it provides some interesting tools. You can use these according to your experience, for example as a Java developer or depending on what you are currently working on.

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Who is behind the creation of Selenium?

Selenium is an instrument with a rather long history. It was created in 2004 by Jason Huggins. He was working on a web application that required frequent testing. After a short time, he realized that repeated manual testing was inefficient, so he created a Javascript program that automatically controlled browser actions. He called this program JavaScript Test Runner. Huggins saw the potential in this tool, so he made it an open-source tool, which he later renamed Selenium Core. However, Selenium doesn’t have just one founder. Since it is a collection of multiple tools, there are other people associated with their creation.

• Selenium RC. The tool was initially called Selenium Remote Control or Selenium 1 and was developed by Paul Hammant. It was later merged with Selenium WebDriver to form Selenium 2.
• Selenium Grid. The tool was developed by Patrick Lightbody, who addressed the need to minimize test execution times as much as possible. His first system was called Hosted QA and was able to capture screenshots of the browser during significant phases of testing.
• Selenium IDE. The tool was created by Shinya Kasatani as a Firefox extension that can automate the browser and speed up the entire testing process.
• Selenium WebDriver. The tool was created by Simon Stewart in 2006. It was the first cross-platform framework that could control the browser at the OS level.

Try Selenium testing too

Selenium testing is a great tool that helps you automate web application testing. If you don’t have much experience, start with Selenium IDE tool that just needs to be installed in your browser. When that’s not enough, move on to other versions suitable for experienced programmers. Controlling an automated testing tool like Selenium opens the door to interesting job offers. Learn how to use it and kick-start your career in the IT world!

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Selenium testing – a tool to automate web application testing

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.