What Is Selenium WebDriver: A Beginner’s Guide To Web Automation

Can you imagine running the modern test cases with only manual testing? No? The current app infrastructure has reached a certain point where it is almost impossible to run thousands of different tests without the inclusion of automation testing. Selenium is one of the first names that will come to our minds when talking about automation testing. There are still various new testers who are not aware of either what is Selenium or what is Selenium WebDriver.

Are you one of them? Don’t worry! We are here for you. Our article will help you develop a very thorough understanding of Selenium WebDriver. We will also go through its features, installation process, and how you can write the automation scripts using it.

What Is Selenium WebDriver

Before we go into any details about Selenium WebDriver, it is very important to address the most important question: What is Selenium WebDriver? In the simplest terms, it is a framework which will allow you to programmatically interact with web apps just as a real user would.

Did you know that Selenium WebDriver supports multiple programming languages? The result? You can use your known language without going through an unwanted learning curve. To understand more about the Selenium WebDriver, let us go through some of its most important features:

Want to test how your app behaves in the real world? WebDriver gives you complete freedom to test multiple app elements like clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating through multiple web pages at the same time. The advantage? You can test the app like a real user would use the app.

Want to perform cross-browser testing? WebDriver has got you covered! Test on multiple popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Apple Safari. This is a very important parameter to ensure that you are providing the best experience to your customers, irrespective of their chosen browsers.

Want to try out headless testing? Selenium WebDriver is there for you! You can perform headless browser testing to only initiate the command line of the browser without actually running the graphical user interface. This approach reduces the system’s strain and helps improve the efficiency of the testing environment.

You can also integrate Selenium WebDriver with various testing frameworks like JUnit, TestNG, and PyTest. This is also an important parameter for efficient test data management.

Finally, while using Selenium WebDriver, you can perform parallel testing. This is the process of running multiple test cases at the same time on different configurations and systems.

Setting Up Selenium WebDriver

Before you can proceed with automation testing using Selenium WebDriver, you must set up the testing environment using this tool. To simplify this process for the new testers, we have mentioned all the required steps in the correct order:

1. Install The Programming Language

Selected your chosen programming language? Install all the relevant dependencies for it. For example, if you want to create automation test scripts using Java, you need the Java development kit. You will also have to set up the “JAVA_HOME” environment variable for initiating the test places.

On the other hand, if you want to use Python, you will require its dependencies like the pip package installer for installing Python in Selenium.

2. Download WebDriver Executables

After choosing your preferred programming language and setting it up, you have to move on to downloading the WebDriver executables. This is because the WebDriver will actually act as a bridge between Selenium and your target web browsers.

So, if you want to target Google Chrome for the testing purposes, you will require the ChromeDriver extension. On the other hand, for Firefox, you will require GeckoDriver and EdgeDriver for running the test cases on Microsoft Edge.

3. Install An IDE

Ready for the final step? Install an integrated development environment to write the automation scripts. But remember, your chosen integrated development environment will depend on the programming language that you will be using for creating the automation test scripts. So, if you’re using Java, you will have to choose between Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA.

But, if you use Python for creating the automation scripts, you can either choose VS Code or PyCharm.

Writing Your First Selenium WebDriver Script

Now that you have finished setting up Selenium and Selenium WebDriver for executing automation testing, it is time to write your first test script. Since you can choose any of your preferred programming languages for this purpose, we have used the examples of Java and Python for the sample scripts:

In the test script attached below, we will be using Python to create the automation test script. This test will help you create a WebDriver instance for Google Chrome. After this, it will open the Google Home page and print the page title. After successfully performing this stage, it will automatically close the browser session and show you the test report.

If you want to perform the same process by using the test script with Java, you simply have to use the following code:

Advanced WebDriver Features

Let us now divert our attention towards some of the most advanced WebDriver features that you can add within your testing environment to further customize the test cases depending on the specific requirements of the application that you are working on:

1. Handling Frames and iFrames

If you want to interact with an element which is present inside an iframe while using the Selenium WebDriver, you need to use the code that we have given below:

driver.switch_to.frame(“frame_id”)

2. Running Tests in Headless Mode

Running Selenium automation testing on a low-end device? Consider using headless mode! This helps to further improve the efficiency and performance of the testing machine.

Ready to implement headless testing with Selenium? Use the code that we have given below to initiate the process:

3. Taking Screenshots

If you want to take screenshots during the test execution process to track failures and bugs, you can use the code that we attached below to perform it:

4. Implicit And Explicit Waits

Modern applications consist of multiple dynamic elements that appear or interact depending on various parameters like user actions or certain stages of the app. So, you must plan your tests accordingly so that the system automatically pauses the execution process until these elements appear on the UI.

While using the Selenium WebDriver, you can use explicit and implicit waits to perform this process. Implicit waits will be most useful if you are trying to wait for all the elements on the app UI. The following code snippet will help you use implicit waits during the test execution process:

On the other hand, if you want to wait for a specific element on the UI, you have to rely on explicit waits. For this, you just have to enter the sample code given below:

5. Cloud Testing

Various cloud platforms like LambdaTest allow you to execute automated cross-browser testing using the Selenium WebDriver. The advantage? Cloud platforms provide access to thousands of different devices, browsers, and operating systems through remote servers. Therefore, you can use this approach to execute real device testing without actually investing in a physical device lab.

Let us use the example of LambdaTest to further improve our understanding about how cloud platforms can influence testing with the Selenium WebDriver:

If you don’t know what is Selenium or what is Selenium WebDriver, there is a high possibility that you’re not aware about LambdaTest as well. LambdaTest is an AI-native test orchestration and execution platform that lets you perform manual and automation testing at scale with over 5000+ real devices, browsers, and OS combinations.

It also provides additional features like live test activity logging, native bug tracking, and will also generate comprehensive test reports after executing the test cases.

The following sample code will help you develop an understanding about how you can execute automated cross-browser testing with LambdaTest and Selenium WebDriver:

Apart from the above based practices, we also suggest the testers to go through the official documentation of Selenium. This will provide you with additional knowledge on various other advanced features that can be useful depending on the specific requirements of your application development project.

Best Practices For Using Selenium WebDriver

Finally, let us go through some of the best practices that you should integrate with Selenium WebDriver so that you are improving the efficiency, productivity, and scalability of your testing infrastructure:

• We highly advise the testers to use explicit waits like WebDriverWait instead of time.sleep(). This approach will help you to pause the test execution process momentarily so that all the dynamic elements on the application are visible and interactable.
• You should also organize your test cases by using the Page Object Models. This approach will separate the testing data from the test cases so that they’re easily maintainable and understandable by even the non-technical members of the team.
• It is also a good idea to use headless browsers for continuous deployment and continuous integration. This approach will also help you to run the testing and development phases at the same time so that errors are detected at the earlier phases and resolved as soon as possible.
• You should also remember that automation testing in itself is a very expensive process. This is because you will have to perform an initial investment to include all the frameworks, tools, and dependencies required for this step. So, from a business perspective, you must have a clear understanding of your ROI and key KPIs to justify this transition.
• Finally, you must use comprehensive test logs so that you keep records of all the known bugs and errors. These will help you to easily find the faulty elements and also implement the required steps so that you can quickly roll out the final product to the deployment phase.

The Bottom Line

Based on all the factors that we put forward in this article, we can easily say that the Selenium WebDriver is a very powerful tool for automating web apps. This tool will allow the testers to create efficient and robust test scripts.

By understanding all the capabilities and strategies of the Selenium WebDriver that we have mentioned in this article, you can build effective automation test scripts to ensure that your web apps work very smoothly across multiple browsers and devices.

You should also continue to practice and learn about the Selenium WebDriver so that you can become the most effective tester in this segment and improve the software quality while also streamlining your testing efforts.