
Introduction
In modern software development, test automation has become a cornerstone offering faster test execution, increased test coverage and improved accuracy of test results. Selenium is one of the most popular frameworks that is widely used for web application testing. Selenium 4 is the latest version with several enhancements and features which makes the framework more powerful and user-friendly. This comprehensive guide assists in mastering the Selenium 4 for test automation.
Selenium
The selenium framework is a suite of tools designed to automate web browsers which simulate user actions and navigating through web pages across different browsers and platforms. It supports multiple programming languages, like Java, Python, C#, and JavaScript.
What’s New in Selenium 4?
Selenium 4 offers several exciting updates aimed at improving both user experience and functionality. The most important features of Selenium 4 are:
- W3C WebDriver Standardization
- Enhanced Browser DevTools Support
- Improved Selenium IDE
- Relative Locators
- Native Support for Shadow DOM
W3C WebDriver Standardization
The key changes in Selenium 4 is that the WebDriver API fully complied with the W3C standard which led to improved stability and compatibility. This also eliminates the inconsistencies between browsers and reduces potential errors. It ensures uniform communication between the browser and test scripts.
Enhanced Browser DevTools Support
Selenium 4 integrates with Chrome DevTools and Edge DevTools to enhance the browser support. It allowing testers to perform various tasks, like:
- Network interception: To capture and manipulate HTTP requests and responses
- Capture logs: Accessing browser logs for debugging purposes
- Performance analysis: Analyzing the page load times and resource consumption
Improved Selenium IDE
The Selenium IDE has been improved by new features, such as:
- Cross-browser support to record tests in Chrome or Firefox and run them in any browser
- Command-line runner that enables integration with CI/CD pipelines
- Test parallelization: To execute multiple test cases simultaneously that improves execution speed
Relative Locators
The new feature in Selenium 4 is Relative Locators which allow testers to locate elements in relation to other elements. For example, it helps to identify a button that is “above” or “below” a specific element. This is very useful when dealing with dynamic content and elements that lack unique attributes.
WebElement loginButton = driver.findElement(RelativeLocator.with(By.tagName("button")).
below(By.id("username")));
Native Support for Shadow DOM
Selenium 4 provides improved native support for Shadow DOM that enables easier interaction with web components. Steps To Set Up The Selenium 4 Framework
To automate tests with Selenium 4, the important steps to set up the environment, are:
- Step 1: Installing a Programming Language
- Step 2: Set Up WebDriver and Install Browser
- Step 3: Write and Run a Test Script
Step 1: Install a Programming Language
As selenium 4 supports multiple programming languages like Java, Python, C#, and JavaScript, Choose and install the language that aligns with the project requirements.
Example: Python
pip install selenium
Step 2: Set Up WebDriver and Install Browser
Each browser has its WebDriver. Download the appropriate driver for the target browser. Then place the driver executable in the system path or specify its location in the script. The browser has to be installed on the machine and then can be automated.
- Chrome: ChromeDriver
- Firefox: GeckoDriver
Step 3: Write and Run a Test Script
Now we can write and run the selenium test scripts. The simple Selenium 4 script in Python that opens a webpage and prints the title is given below:
from selenium import webdriver driver =
webdriver.Chrome() driver.get("https://www.example.com")
print(driver.title)
driver.quit()
Best Practices in Selenium Test Automation
The essential best practices of Selenium that make the test more reliable, scalable, and maintainable are: Using Explicit Waits: To eliminate timing issues by allowing to wait for a specific condition to occur before proceeding.
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10)
element = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.ID, "username")))
Page Object Model (POM) design pattern: Organizing the test code that improves maintainability by creating an object for each web page. Any changes to the UI require updates in the page object class.
class LoginPage:
def __init__(self, driver):
self.driver = driver
self.username_field = driver.find_element(By.ID, "username")
self.password_field = driver.find_element(By.ID, "password")
self.login_button = driver.find_element(By.ID, "login")
def login(self, username, password):
self.username_field.send_keys(username) self.password_field.send_keys(password)
self.login_button.click()
Test in Parallel: To run tests on multiple machines and browsers in parallel using selenium grid. It speeds up the testing process significantly.
Test Data Management: Managing the test data effectively by using external files like CSV, JSON, or databases. It feeds inputs into your test cases, making them more reusable.
Debugging and Reporting in Selenium 4
When a test fails, selenium 4 allows testers to take screenshots of specific elements or the entire page.
driver.save_screenshot("screenshot.png")
Integrating Selenium with logging frameworks and reporting tools helps in generating detailed reports with logs, screenshots, and step-by-step results.
Conclusion
To conclude, Selenium 4 is the major leap forward in test automation that offers improved functionality, better standards compliance, and enhanced tools. By mastering Selenium 4 and following the best practices, create robust, scalable, and efficient test automation frameworks. To gain the skills of Selenium, Credo Systemz offers the Selenium training in Chennai with industrial trainers.
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