Free Web Testing with Selenium

 

Performing testing of web applications manually has become increasingly difficult over the years with the development of new browsers and new devices that support the web. We now need to deliver cross-browser testing against multiple browsers (I.E., Firefox, Chrome, Safari etc.), multiple versions of each browser, across multiple platforms (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux) and even across multiple hardware devices (desktop, phone, tablet). Delivering regression testing with all of these variables is becoming very expensive in terms of time and resources.

 

The answer of course is to automate your web testing, but there are hundreds of testing tools in the market, so which one should you choose? Well if you are after a stable tool with good support that has been around for many years, and is free! then look no further than Selenium.

 

Selenium is an open-source piece of software available to freely download from www.seleniumhq.org it is very widely used, and very well established. In fact is now a candidate to be a W3C standard.

You can use your own choice of development environment for writing  WebDriver scripts (The open-source ‘Eclipse’ IDE being very popular for Java, Microsoft Visual Studio for C#, Visual Studio Code for JavaScript). You can also choose from a number of different development languages, so you can program in the one that you are most comfortable with.

You can deliver cross-browser testing, tests can be executed from the command-line, or developed as part of a continuous integration environment using tools like Jenkins and Bamboo.

Selenium is very well supported by the developer community and as it is very widely used, there are good resources for it, both on the internet and with companies and contractors that have Selenium experience.

 

Which Selenium?

Selenium Logo

There are two main ‘flavours’ of Selenium used for script development:

 

  • Selenium IDE
  • Selenium WebDriver

 

Selenium IDE is a plug-in for Web Browsers, and allows you to quickly create automated tests through record & reply and then add your own validation points.  The tests can be added to test suites and executed easily, all point and click. The test scripts are seen as a table of actions, so it becomes easy to understand, and edit them without coding. Selenium IDE is continually progressed as a tool by the developer community and the functionality provided now means that many organisations use it as a testing tool, without looking to use the more feature-rich Selenium Web Driver API.

 

Selenium WebDriver is an Object-Oriented API that allows you to control the web browser programmatically, and allows you to create automated tests that act just as a user would. Test Scripts can be executed on the local machine, or even remotely on other machines. It also supports multiple web browsers (Chrome, Internet explorer, Firefox, Opera), including iPhone & Android and can be ‘plugged-in’ to other frameworks such as JUnit, NUnit or TestNG. WebDriver provides a more feature-rich and coherent object-oriented approach to web testing, providing more power and flexibility than Selenium IDE, however it is a coding solution, so needs a bit of programming experience, compared to the simple keyword-driven table approach of Selenium IDE.

 

Why do I need training in Selenium?

 

If you are new to automated testing you should always consider attending courses, as these will help you ‘hit the ground running’ saving you months of trial and error learning, also you will learn best practices, so avoid the common pitfalls in test automation.

Open-source tools like Selenium can be difficult to find good coherent resources for, so having instructor-led training can really simplify things for you.

Many people new to selenium start with Selenium IDE and then later move to the more powerful Web Driver framework. Web Driver is pure coding, so it is always useful to get trained and be armed with useful real-world examples to get you going.

If you want to get the best out of automation, get yourself trained!

 

Selenium courses from Edgewords:

  • Selenium WebDriver JavaScript – 3 days, Classroom, UK
  • Selenium WebDriver Java – 3 days, Classroom, UK
  • Selenium WebDriver C# – 3 days, Classroom, UK

For the schedule and prices, please see our course schedule at: www.edgewordstraining.co.uk/automated-software-testing-training-courses/selenium-training/

 

Why use Edgewords?

Edgewords has been delivering training in automated testing for over a decade and is recognised as one of Europe’s leading providers in this field. All of our trainers have at least 10 years testing experience, so can provide expert advice on industry best practices.

All of our courses are practical, written by testing consultants, so you really learn how to develop real-world tests and overcome common problems you will experience along the way.

Comprehensive workbooks are provided that act as a great resource after the course when you need to start developing automated tests on your own.

 

Simply call us on +44 (0)333 939 8884 or submit an enquiry form here and we will assist you in finding the most suitable course for your needs.