Updated on: December 26, 2019
Table of Content
Selenium is an open-source testing tool primarily used for testing applications through different browsers and operating systems. Its biggest advantage is that it is automated and can be used for most of the used browsers and operating systems. It also can be utilized through any of the programming languages according to the user’s choice.
Software testing is essential for computer and mobile applications because, without proper testing of an application, you do not know whether it will work properly in different browsers and operating platforms. This testing was done manually previous to the introduction of Selenium. This caused human errors due to boredom, fatigue, and other errors. It was also time-consuming, resulting in delays. Selenium made it automated, which radically decreased errors and time taken to test applications in different systems. Since, at present, the world is dependent on the internet. The importance of proper and quick testing web applications cannot be overstated. Here come the internet efficacy and significance of Selenium.
Selenium Tutorial for beginners at SSDN Technologies covers the entire broad area in a simple way. It gives basic tools to the students to explore this field extensively that ushers in a significant future career opportunity.
Learn Selenium at SSDN Technologies
Selenium Components
Selenium is a group of different components of tools that, as a whole, is called the Selenium suite.
Selenium suite comprises of
- Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- Selenium Remote Control (RC)
- Selenium WebDriver
- Selenium Grid
1. Selenium Integrated Development Environment
Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a plugin which can be used in the Firefox browser and some Chrome extensions. It is simple and easy to use that can record and test cases rapidly. Interactions of a user with the browser are recorded, and tests can be done based on these recordings. It is quite simple to install but cannot be used for advanced test cases.
2. Selenium Remote Control (RC)
Selenium Remote Control (RC) is the next stage of development in Selenium application technology. This format supports programming using RC. Secondly, it is usable in different browsers and various operating platforms. The composition of RC is complicated and, therefore, slow in executing tests. An in between, called Selenium RC server, has to be installed to communicate between selenium commands and the browser. For the above reason, it has gone out of popularity.
3. Selenium WebDriver
Unlike RC Selenium, WebDriver enables the direct interface for testing applications in multiple browsers and operating systems. It is a vast improvement from IDE, which can be applied only for the Firefox browser. Test cases can be promptly recorded, and several elements of applications can be quickly identified and acted upon readily. WebDriver is an upgraded version of RC and is much faster because it directly interacts with the browser. In 2008 it had been merged with RC and was called Selenium 2. It uses JavaScript for testing applications, and each web browser has its own WebDriver.
4. Selenium Grid
Selenium Grid is a fast testing tool that runs multiple tests in varied browsers in numerous operating systems. This system tests whether the application is compatible with a wide range of machines in various browsers and OS. It implies a considerable improvement in automated testing with much-accelerated execution. It is designed in a Hub–Node style where one machine acts as the hub, which controls the testing in different browsers and operating systems, and the other machines act as nodes. In the nodes, tests can be done with a different programming language preferred by the user that is another big advantage of this system.
Why is Selenium so Popular?
Selenium offers automated testing of applications for the whole range of web browsers across multiple operating systems. It also enables parallel testing with different programming languages that makes it a hugely efficient and quick testing tool eliminating errors and delays. And to top it all, it is an open-source tool that can be used free of cost.
Advantages of Selenium
Advantages of Selenium Suite are many and are tabulated below:
- Selenium is applied for complex and advanced application tests with a lot of flexibility.
- It is an open-source tool without costing anything to the user.
- It can be used with any programming language preferred by the user, such as Java, Perl, PHP, Python, and others.
- It can be utilized across all operating systems for desktops and mobiles, including Windows, Linux, Android, Mac, and iOS.
- It is applicable for all web browsers.
- It can be made used for parallel testing for different browsers and platforms using different languages.
- It can be integrated with other tools for testing applications continuously.
- It can also be utilized adequately while the web browser is in a minimized position
Career in Selenium
With the advent of fast and ever-increasing need and popularity of web applications, all companies, large or medium, are relying on rapid, automated testing of the application with tools like selenium, which is free of cost as well as very fast and effective. It means enormous Selenium career opportunities for any student in a large field with ample chances for a big wage increase with experience. As a Selenium specialist, you can go for a career as a
- Automation Test Lead
- Senior Test Engineer
- Quality Engineer
- Selenium Automation Analyst
- QA Engineer
Learn here – Top Selenium Interview Questions
Conclusion
As global enterprises increasingly using automated application testing, Selenium is poised to have an extensive growth in the near future. As a testing tool, it is cost-effective with high speed with the added advantage of compatibility with different platforms and web browsers with any programming language. Selenium 4 is poised to be released with more innovations. Other Selenium-based testing tools like Winium are also getting very popular. Users with knowledge of Selenium can quickly adapt to these tools. Although it has some shortcomings, Selenium is the choice tool of many world leaders, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and IBM. A world where web applications nearly know no bounds use and improvements of Selenium and Selenium like tools are likely to grow manifold. It brings golden opportunity for the students who want to grab it with both hands with a career in Selenium.
