Testers and developers all over the world adore Selenium for its immense benefits in Automation Testing. It is an open-source tool that is simple to use and available free of cost. Of course, there is no shortage of automation testing tools that deliver excellent results. The market is full of them! So, why the hype behind Selenium?
Well, let’s start by understanding what it is and then move on to the advantages. Selenium is a portable framework for web app testing that uses “Selenese”, the default test domain language to write test scripts. The framework has a whole stack of useful tools for test automation, each comprising a project or application-specific functionality.
Offering support for a wide array of browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla, Safari, and IE, Selenium offers different advantages for automation testing. There is a myriad of reasons why Selenium is the number one choice. In this post, we are going to take a look at the top 7 reasons to use Selenium for automation testing. Let’s begin.
1. Support For Multiple Browsers
Multi-browser support is one of the primary functionalities that the Selenium community strives to improvise relentlessly. Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla, Safari, and IE, etc. are some of the most widely used web browsers across the globe.
Developers don’t have to write different scripts for each of the browsers. Thanks to Selenium’s compatibility with all the major browsers, just one script works for all. The WebDriver has various automated solutions for testers for the execution of cross-browser testing on a cloud grid, say, LambdaTest.
2. Easy Integration and Better Usability
The best part about Selenium is that you can integrate it with different tools for test management. The reusability of automation test suites is a big time saver! This means that you can also test these suites across different operating systems and browsers. But since Selenium doesn’t classify as an all-inclusive tool for automation testing, third-party integration plays a massive role if you want to utilize it to the fullest.
In that case, easy integration with other tools comes in handy while you’re using Selenium. For example, achieving continuous testing with CI/CD tools such as Docker, Maven, and Jenkins extends the usability of Selenium to new horizons. You can also integrate Selenium with “ExtentReports” to generate reports and graphs easily. Testers can use these to provide the clients with testing status insights.
Another useful tool known as “Sikuli” when integrated with Selenium offers Efficient testing of web applications that involve images and videos. Similarly, when you integrate Selenium and Appium, It becomes easier to test web apps on both iOS and Android platforms.
3. Support for Various Languages and Frameworks
“Does the tool offer support for the language I’m familiar with?” This is the first question that pops into their head when someone is selecting an Automation Testing tool. Fortunately, in the case of Selenium, it is compatible with a wide variety of languages and frameworks. Offering support for all major programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, C#, Python, Ruby, and Perl, and so on, the Selenium web driver helps testers to complete the task at hand easily and quickly.
Moreover, the customized script language further enhances Selenium compatibility with the commonly used programming languages. This way, our web developers have the flexibility to work with the language of their choice which eliminates the need for training and retraining staff. All they need to do is write a script in any language and it converts the script into one which is compatible with Selenium.
4. Accessible as an Open-Source and Free of Cost Framework
Not every company is in a financial position to pool in their resources for Automation Testing. This is where an impeccable open-source framework comes into the picture. Since there are no direct expenses associated with the use of Selenium, businesses can divert the funds to more creative uses.
Users can get all the QTP features without any extra costs. Plus, all the desirable features for testers are readily available in Selenium. There is an entire community of experts offering support. The members of the community strive to help engineers as well as developers automate a wide array of features and functionalities of a web browser. The generation of test scripts for validating different functionalities is far easier with Selenium than it used to be.
5. Enhanced Flexibility and a Gentle Learning Curve
Thanks to the regrouping of test cases and refactoring, Selenium increases the efficiency of managing tests and make the process simpler. Both developers as well as testers can make changes to the code as and when required, thus, eliminating complications and duplications. In other words, Selenium’s flexibility helps the framework stay ahead of the crowd.
Not to mention, the learning curve is not a steep one and even a beginner can easily learn how to use Selenium to their advantage. After all, you won’t be writing long and complex algorithms over here! Through a combination of clear documentation, tutoring, and community support, Selenium provides excellent sources of learning. Thanks to the easy-to-use Selenium interface, it simplifies the creation and execution of test scripts for an even smoother experience.
While you are running tests, you can keep an eye on them, perform an analysis of test reports, and take any necessary actions for follow-ups. In case you get stuck somewhere, shoot your question to the large community of members eager to help you out.
6. Provides Support Across Various Devices And Operating Systems
One of the biggest benefits of the Selenium WebDriver includes massive support across various devices. You can easily write automated test cases for both Android and iOS Along with continuously addressing issues and generating results. Also, not everyone uses the same operating system.
The high portability of Selenium makes it a fit for all kinds of OS including Mac, Linux, Unix, and Windows. You can even create test cases on one operating system and execute them on another. In other words, Selenium is independent of the platform being used which saves a lot of time for the software tester. After all, they don’t have to write separate scripts for every platform.
7. Frequent Updates and Parallel Test Execution
Executing more than one test in parallel is not a problem if you’re using Selenium. The Selenium grid facilitates parallel test execution, therefore helping the users avoid wasting valuable time. It provides cloud grids to perform cross-browser testing which enables testing across different browsers parallelly.
This particular feature completely goes in line with the ultimate aim of Automation Testing, that is, saving the efforts of the team and diverting time to more important tasks. Stagnancy is the death of progress and the Selenium community takes this very seriously. Therefore, they work towards providing frequent updates and keep on upgrading the framework.
Now, if you are thinking constant updates might steepen the learning curve of Selenium, that’s not the case. What makes Selenium even more resourceful is that the upgraded versions do not require any kind of training.
Some Additional Benefits of Selenium For Automation Testing
Developers, operations, quality assurance, clients, and management are the pillars of an SDLC process. These teams are cross-functional and any discrepancy in the agility can be catastrophic. By maintaining complete transparency between all the teams and processes, Selenium helps in maintaining a smooth flow of work.
In some cases, manual testing can lead to missed schedules for time to market and product delivery. But since Selenium testers don’t have to write separate tests for different platforms, it reduces the TTM and optimizes the overall testing time.
The complete automation of the test process successfully implements Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. Also, when it comes to end-to-end testing, Selenium offers impeccable visibility. High testing quality with a reduced turn around time leads to overall better product delivery.
One of the less known fascinating things about the Selenium WebDriver is that it can mimic a situation that simulates the real user environment. You can automate a keyboard press, mouse click, click and hold, drag and drop, selection of multiple items, and so on. Testers can leverage the development code and speed up the entire testing cycles to a great extent.
Final Words
When we look at Selenium, what meets the eye is a single framework. But the platform has a lot more to offer. In fact, It is a suite of various helpful frameworks designed for specific development and testing needs. It is like a robust toolbox in which various parts make up an entire testing system. You can also customize various add-ons to widen the scope of your testing.
All Selenium products including Selenium IDE, Selenium WebDriver, Selenium RC, and Selenium Grid are free to use and open source. Among all the different test automation frameworks available across the globe, Selenium offers the greatest value without any upfront costs. No wonder it is the most popular choice for automated testing among developers and testers all over the world.
The bottom line, if you are looking for an open-source framework that can Simulate advanced browser interactions along with providing numerous benefits for developers and testers, Selenium is the way to go!