In developing applications, manual testing is the most tedious part of the process. It has a lot of shortcomings, is repetitive and monotonous. Testing is done to ensure the application performs well before being released into the market. Testing is also done on already installed applications during their improvement processes. 

To overcome the slow, tedious, and repetitive process of manual testing, developers created automation testing frameworks. Selenium automation testing is one of the frameworks that was created. It is an open-source tool widely used in the field of application level testing.

What does Selenium do?

The Selenium testing framework allows developers to write a test code and automatically run browser testing at a faster speed. Automated tools provide a more efficient and consistent testing outcome than manual testing tools and ensure that your web applications work on any browser or operating system. 

How the Selenium testing tools are used

The Selenium framework is used for automated testing over a wide range of browsers used for web apps. The tool is used to test if apps are of the best quality. It tests if they are responding well, progressing, and working regularly. It is an open-source tool that generates reports regularly. The tool is highly reliable. 

The purpose of automated web testing

A brand reflects well across different users if they consistently get a good browser experience across devices. If the experience is bad, it reflects negatively on the brand. This is why it is important to continuously test the web to ensure the apps are working well on each browser. Because the manual process is tedious, the automated process provides the answers. 

Components of Selenium automation testing

Selenium automation testing runs on a client-server architecture which means the tool’s components include both client and server. The client code is a remote web driver. It is this code that implements the API that automates the browser. 

The framework changes this code into an HTTPS code and sends the command to a server. The selenium framework is composed of four tools.

Selenium RC: this tool allows developers to code test cases using any coding language. This allows the tool to perform automated UI testing on any web application. 

Selenium IDE: this is the component that allows you to debug, record, edit and replay the selenium tests. It is a free plugin tool. 

Selenium Grid: this tool enables developers to do parallel testing across a wide range of browsers. Its architecture is based on hub and node infrastructure. 

The Selenium WebDriver

The Selenium WebDriver drives a browser remotely or locally through the selenium server. It uses as reference the language binding a browser and specific browser control codes. This process is what is called WebDriver and has the following features. 

• It has a simple design and programming interface
• It drives browsers efficiently
• It is an object-oriented API

Using Selenium in different testing scenarios

Selenium automation testing allows users to create automated testing using no-code or low code frameworks. This is the best way to use Selenium for automating tests for daily activities. 

The framework is compatible with multiple coding languages such as JavaScript, Python, C#, Java, etc. It can also run on low code tools such as Quantum and no-code tools such as codeless. 

Testing across browsers

When performing automation testing across multiple browsers, Selenium is combined with Perfecto to easily create automation cross-browser testing. Instead of using the local selenium grid setup, it uses the Selenium cloud setup. This setup makes sure Selenium is on all the time and is up to date. It maintains a stable, robust and visible testing environment.

Codeless testing

Performing codeless testing with Selenium enhances coverage. To make this happen, you require to combine it with Perfecto Scriptless. It improves its machine learning capabilities. It also performs record and playback functionality.

Headless browser testing

This functionality increases Selenium’s delivery speed. 

Types of testing done through the Selenium automation testing framework

Unit testing: This is testing done on individual components of a software

Component testing: This testing first isolates a unit of software and tests it separately instead of testing within its other components.

Smoke testing: It is done to ensure the software is stable

Sanity testing: It is done on stable software, but this phase tests for bugs and their functionality

Regression testing: It is testing done to ensure the individual codes of software are working well after a new code or feature is added.

Integration testing: It is testing done to ensure the individual codes of software are working well.

API testing: The testing is done to validate if APIs are connecting and responding well as expected.

UI testing: The testing is done to check if the graphical interface of an app is working well.

System testing: It is testing done to ensure the entire program/application meets all the requirements. 

White box testing: The testing is done on the visit part of software codes, design, and infrastructure. It tests if its programming is working well and if it’s giving the expected output. 

Black box testing: This is the opposite of white testing. It tests sections of the codes that are invisible.