Previously, manual testing was the only method used by testing organizations. With the advent of modern web testing automation tools like Selenium, organizations today face intense competition. They are now using Selenium’s automated testing potential to speed up test execution and make it simple to execute web apps on various operating systems and browsers.
Selenium is one of the most effective and extensively used automation frameworks for web-based application testing and meeting essential website requirements. It ensures that the website provides a consistent, bug-free user experience, assisting users in participating in the modern era of technology. The most essential benefit is that it can assist in creating high-quality applications and facilitating testing, particularly when it comes to writing functions for simple manipulation.
We will learn how to get started with Selenium automation testing on LambdaTest in this article. But first, let’s discuss what Selenium is and why Selenium automated testing is necessary before moving on with this topic.
What is Selenium testing?
Selenium is the most favored open-source framework for automated testing that allows developers to run unmodified tests on web applications on various platforms, devices, and browsers. With Selenium, testers may easily automate the testing process and quickly provide an application free of bugs.
Without requiring any manual input, Selenium can run the tests frequently and directly in the web browser and control interactions on websites. It assists in removing time- and effort-intensive repetitive manual testing. Selenium Testing refers to testing carried out using the Selenium tool.
Selenium testing supports the most widely used scripting languages, such as Node.js, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, or C#, enabling developers to write test scripts in the language they are most comfortable with. Additionally, it supports several operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux/Unix, as well as a variety of browsers including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, and Firefox. Selenium is therefore quite advantageous due to its versatility. It is important to keep in mind that Selenium can only be used in browsers; it cannot automate desktop apps.
Selenium Components
The term “Selenium” refers to a collection of tools that are frequently used for cross-browser testing. The Selenium test suite consists of three primary components:
Selenium IDE- The main function of the Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is to record and perform web application tests on various browsers. It is a browser add-on that makes it simple to write, execute, and debug test scripts with its record and playback features. It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux and is accessible as an extension for the Firefox and Chrome web browsers.
Selenium WebDriver- The most crucial tool in the Selenium Suite is Selenium WebDriver. It is the first cross-platform testing framework to automate web application testing. Selenium WebDriver allows for direct communication between the code and the browser. For greater flexibility, it supports many programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, C#, PHP, Ruby, and Python. It also supports a variety of browsers, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera.
Selenium WebDriver consists of:-
- API or Application Programming Interface- It uses bindings to convert test scripts from languages like Ruby, Java, Python, etc. to Selenese, the scripting language used by Selenium.
- Driver – An executable module that launches the test script in a new browser instance.
- Framework – Support libraries for integrating with test frameworks for programming languages, such as Selenium with TestNG or Selenium with Cucumber.
Selenium Grid- The goal of Selenium Grid was to speed up test execution. It is utilized for distributed or parallel testing. It enables the parallel execution of test scripts across many devices, operating systems, and browsers. This speeds up and greatly simplifies testing for cross-browser compatibility.
Why Use Selenium for automated testing?
Selenium is one of the most preferred and well-known open-source browser automation frameworks used by professionals in the testing organization, even though there are many different automation testing solutions available on the market. Automation using Selenium has countless advantages. Below are a few of the unique qualities and benefits.
Cost-effective
Due to its open-source nature, Selenium automation testing is cost-effective. One of its benefits over other tools is that this framework doesn’t require any licensing fees. Its testing tools are freely available, can be used for frequent regression testing, and offer an unlimited number of test case execution repetitions. This makes it an extremely portable tool that can be downloaded with minimal effort and may quickly receive support from its community in case of downloading or technical challenges.
Support for multiple operating systems and browsers
Users access the internet using a variety of platforms and devices, and Selenium enables testers to increase test coverage across popular browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Safari with just one test script. Selenium also supports a variety of operating systems, including Mac, Windows, UNIX, Linux, and others, to make testing easier for testers.
Multiple language support
Selenium supports a wide range of languages, including Perl, Java, C#Python, Groovy, JavaScript, Ruby, and more. To complete the testing of the web application, developers and testers might use any of these languages they are comfortable with to create test scripts.
Reusability
For executing testing across several browsers, the Selenium Test Automation framework prefers scripts. By allowing the reuse of the same test scripts for various use cases or other projects, it aids in the coverage of all functional testing components.
Early bug detection
Testers can find flaws early in the development of an application by using Selenium automation testing. They sustain the overall velocity of code development by working quickly on problem fixes. Thus, the testing procedure is finished swiftly and effectively. As a result, developers may quickly release updates while ensuring that the website’s functioning is not affected.
Faster feedback
Selenium offers immediate feedback. When a mistake occurs, developers may rapidly obtain testing findings so that they can fix it and expedite delivery. As a result, team productivity and code quality are enhanced. In the realm of customer experience and feedback management, tools like Selenium are analogous to survey platforms where Qualtrics competitors strive to provide real-time insights and improvements.
Enhancing test efficiency
The Selenium framework is the most effective tool for testing websites since it requires significantly less setup time than other automation testing methods. Additionally, Selenium testing helps to increase test accuracy and lower the possibility of human error.
Support from the community
The robust open community support for Selenium aids in resolving any problems or questions that may arise. Due to Selenium support provided by the community, it is also possible to upgrade this tool easily and frequently. Selenium is hence the ideal option for an automation testing tool.
Simple to use
Selenium’s user-friendly interface makes it simple for developers and testers to write and carry out tests across a variety of platforms fast and effectively. It makes it possible for testers to employ scripts through extensions, making it simple to design and manage the activities through advanced customization.
Easily integrate with testing tools
Selenium adheres to a unique set of standards that make it simple to use with well-known application development and testing tools. It is simple to integrate with CI systems like TeamCity and Jenkins, SC compilers like Maven and ANT, cloud grids like LambdaTest, and numerous more test management tools. Through the effective collection, evaluation, and implementation of creative ideas, idea management tool enable organizations to promote a spirit of innovation and constant improvement.
These advantages clearly show why Selenium is the most effective tool for web automated testing. Given the benefits mentioned above, one would undoubtedly want to learn how to automate a web application using Selenium.
Here, we’ll cover how to use LambdaTest cloud to execute Selenium tests.
Using JavaScript with Selenium web automation makes complete sense since the tool is widely used for web development and the majority of developers are familiar with JavaScript. Developers find it simple to construct automated tests in JavaScript and receive timely feedback
After saying that, let’s go on to the section of getting started with Selenium testing on LambdaTest.
Getting Started with Selenium Testing on LambdaTest
Selenium is the most popular free and open-source framework for automating browser-based tests that simulate user behavior.
Developers may use it to quickly and repeatedly perform tests on all operating systems and browsers. As a result, both functional and non-functional testing can be done using it. In addition, Selenium offers APIs and extensions for the majority of programming languages, allowing developers to use this framework to automate web-based applications. This gives users more flexibility when choosing to automate testing using Selenium.
The language binding libraries for the preferred programming language and the Selenium WebDriver binaries for the browsers that one wants to test must be installed before using Selenium in the automation project.
An Overview of the LambdaTest Platform
A platform that can run website testing on all platforms is necessary for automating website testing with Selenium.
LambdaTest is a reliable, and secure, cloud-based AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that enables Selenium automation across more than 3000+ environments including real devices cloud. Testers can create specific automation scripts in a variety of languages and frameworks using LambdaTest to automate Selenium tests. This aids organizations in testing their website on countless combinations of devices and browsers.
For development, testing, or monitoring needs, many users from different locations can all access this cloud platform. LambdaTest doesn’t need any additional virtual machines or browsers installed to carry out testing. To start automating testing for the web application y, all it needs is an active internet connection and a free LambdaTest account.
Prerequisites to Run Selenium test
Selenium needs to install a few requirements to begin automating tests. The prerequisites needed to begin automating Selenium using JavaScript are listed below.
- Eclipse IDE needs Java Development Kit (JDK) to function on computers. Therefore, the first step is to install and set up a JDK file (Java Development Kit) that is compatible with the computer’s operating system. Even when running Java-dependent programs, JDK installation is mandatory.
- It is necessary to download Eclipse IDE (a Java development environment for creating and running code) from Eclipse IDE for the Java developer’s page after the JDK has been successfully installed and configured on the computer. Choose the appropriate Eclipse version based on the operating system.
- The next step is to install WebDriver Language Bindings and the Selenium Client. Selenium Webdriver supports a variety of languages, and each language has a unique client driver. This is crucial for connecting the WebDriver and the client so that testing can be done. When using Selenium with Java, it is necessary to obtain the Selenium Java Client Driver from the official Selenium website.
- The next step is to configure Selenium Webdriver with Eclipse after extracting the contents of the downloaded file.
- The next step is to create and execute a test script using Java and Selenium.
Selenium and LambdaTest may be connected smoothly to speed up web app automation testing. Therefore use the LambdaTest cloud platform to quickly run Selenium tests on more than 3000 real browsers and operating systems.
For that, it is necessary to obtain a LambdaTest credential, which serves as the gateway to LambdaTest’s robust testing capabilities, before running test automation scripts on the LambdaTest cloud. The credentials may be obtained by going to the LambdaTest automation dashboard and obtaining Key credentials, which would provide quick and easy local test script execution through the LambdaTest cloud.
Conclusion
Testing is made simple for your web application by automating test scripts with Selenium. This enables the developers to quickly find and fix issues. Even though Selenium is a fantastic tool to use, creating and running Selenium tests can be a little challenging. To expedite the process, it would be ideal to use a cloud-based platform like LambdaTest.
