Can you develop a modern application without the inclusion of automation testing? No? This is probably because your applications have become so complex that it’s impossible to run thousands of such tests manually. In such a scenario, you will be forced to resort to automation testing tools like the Selenium WebDriver. However, there are various new testers who are still confused about what is Selenium WebDriver.
If you are one of those, then you don’t have to worry, as our article will help you understand not only the basics of Selenium WebDriver but also how can you use it to your advantage. Struggling with Selenium WebDriver implementation? Don’t worry! We are here for you as well. We’ll also guide you about how to build and maintain a robust testing framework with the Selenium WebDriver.
Why Implement Selenium WebDriver
Before we start discussing all the technical details about the WebDriver implementation process, let’s return to the basics and clarify what is Selenium WebDriver. Under its hood, it is a language-specific binding that is created to drive a browser natively. It is a part of the entire Selenium test suite and comes with other tools like the Selenium IDE and the Selenium Grid.
The most popular features of Selenium WebDriver include its simplicity, flexibility, and strong community support. It simplifies the testing process to such an extent that it is only about installing the bindings and writing the test script. If you are trying to use it for an enterprise implementation, you will have to face certain complexities due to the increased components of the applications.
Now, you might ask that why you need to worry about a strategic implementation for using the Selenium WebDriver. This is because without properly planning the testing process, it can become brittle, entangled, and time-consuming. These factors will become especially prominent when the test logic grows, the environment configuration evolves, and the data setup becomes scattered.
Let us not divert our attention towards one of the major parameters that you must include within the strategic setup of your Selenium WebDriver implementation:
- It is very important to begin the process by defining clear goals for the automation testing coverage.
- You must also set up a well-structured testing framework that consists of multiple testing configurations and target device hardware and software as per the requirements of your target audience.
- It is also important to integrate the required supportive tools like the built pipelines and reporting dashboards. You can also consider including various third-party tools and platforms to further improve the quality of the testing cycle.
- Finally, you must consider continuously refining and maintaining the test suite by using the best practices that we will mention in this article.
Framework Architecture For Selenium Testing
To use a robust Selenium automation testing framework, you will have to integrate a layered architecture where each layer has different responsibilities. To shed more light over this segment, we have mentioned some of the most important layers in this segment:
- The test layer will consist of the high-level test scripts that will be responsible for describing the test flow in business terms. These terms will include the user visits the website login page, puts the login credentials, and checks for expected behavior.
- The service layer or API layer is responsible for verifying the API’s functioning. For example, if an application has API, you will have direct calls to set up or verify the data, which will offload the complex state management from the user interface tests.
- The business logic layer will cover the logic to interact with the user interface elements or even the services present in a modular form on the application.
- Finally, the core layer will contain the WebDriver setup, configuration, helpers, and any abstract classes that will unify the framework’s cross-cutting concerns, like user logging.
Test Data Management
For any automation testing strategy, it is very important to properly control and prepare the data for consistent and reliable test cases. Let us go through some of the most important strategies that you can implement in this process:
- For static tests, you must store the test data, like credentials and input values, in external JSON or YAML files. This approach will help ensure that changes in data do not require code modifications.
- On the other hand, if you’re working with dynamic test data, you might prefer to generate it on the go. There are various libraries that generate random emails or user profiles, which can be used to keep your test data afresh.
- For advanced scenarios, especially while working on integrated environments, seeding a database with a known dataset can set the stage for consistent results. It also ensures that you’re analyzing the performance of your application based on various real-world parameters.
- Finally, you will find that sometimes, it is faster and more reliable to use an API to populate or reset the test data compared to performing multiple user interface actions. User interface tests will then verify only the relevant parts of the work that will help you reduce the overall test execution time.
- In this regard, we would like to mention that it is equally important to properly log all the test data and use external tools like Exchange Report, Allure, or TestNG for implementing efficient test data management. These practices will help you find repetitive errors within the software and also identify specific patterns like recurring flakiness in certain tests or performance issues in a given area of the application.
Parallel Execution And Scalability
With the growing state of your application, you will face increasing execution times. So, to improve the test execution speed and also reduce the feedback loop, you can consider improving the scalability and implementing parallel test execution:
Local Parallel Execution
All the modern testing frameworks support parallel testing in languages like Java, C#, and Python. Parallel testing is the process of running multiple testing scenarios on different configurations and setups at the same time. Many experts believe that if you can properly use parallel testing, you can wrap up the entire test within just a few days.
However, you must also be aware of some of the major challenges that can come with the inclusion of parallel testing:
Each browser instance will consume separate CPU and memory bandwidth. Therefore, your local machine may not be able to handle more than a few sessions simultaneously.
If you’re working on multiple tests that rely on the same data, there will be concurrency, which will lead to test flakiness. In such scenarios, strategies like isolating data subsets or spinning up containers will be massively beneficial to eliminate these risks.
Remote Execution With Selenium Grid
Selenium Grid is a tool under the Selenium test suite which will allow you to run your tests on multiple machines and browsers in a parallel configuration. You can set up the Selenium Grid with a hub and multiple nodes. You also have the option of integrating cloud-based platforms like LambdaTest to eliminate the hassle of infrastructure management.
Let us divert our attention to some of the major factors that you must consider while implementing parallel testing with the Selenium Grid:
It is important to ensure the tests are distributed evenly to avoid any form of execution bottleneck.
You must use Docker or Kubernetes for managing containerized browser nodes dynamically within the test execution phase.
It is a good idea to automatically shut off nodes when test runs are idle, as it will help to save a lot of resources.
Cloud Services
Cloud-based services like LambdaTest will be highly beneficial for executing automated Selenium testing in parallel without going through the hassle of setting up an on-site device lab.
If you are a new tester who is not aware of what is Selenium and what is Selenium WebDriver, it is a high possibility that you don’t know about LambdaTest either. LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that lets you perform manual and automation testing at scale with over 3000 real devices, browsers, and OS combinations.
It comes with various advanced features like comprehensive test reporting, live test activity logging, and native work tracking.
Best Practices For WebDriver Implementation
Finally, let us go through some of the best practices that we recommend the testers to incorporate within their test cycle for further improving the scalability and productivity of the testing infrastructure:
- It is very important to ensure that each of your test cases can be done on its own without depending on the state of the other test cases. This approach will help you include parallel testing and also perform easy bugging on the test reports.
- We recommend the testers to use explicit waits for handling dynamic loading elements on the application. You should also avoid implicit waits as your primary synchronization approach because they can introduce non-deterministic waits across multiple elements of the application.
- In certain scenarios, it can be really provocating to reuse browser sessions for speeding up the test execution process. However, you must remember that it can lead to unintended state leakage. So, the best practice is to opt for fresh sessions unless you have a strong reason to preserve the current one.
- You will see that in a typical scenario, the Selenium test cases are at the top of the pyramid, meaning they are more expensive to run and maintain. It is very important to complement these test cases with thorough unit and integration existing for covering logic that doesn’t require a browser.
- Finally, you must remember that modern applications are constantly evolving and will require the test code to adapt. You must make small frequent refactors rather than large overhauls, which can break the functioning of the entire test suite.
The Bottom Line
Based on all the factors that we have put forward in this article, we can easily say that creating a robust WebDriver-based testing framework is not solely about writing scripts that drive the current web browser. It is more about a well-planned architecture, thoughtful design patterns, disciplined maintenance, and a collaborative DevOps mindset.
If you approach your Selenium automation test scripts strategically, you can minimize technical depth, reduce flakiness, and also establish a suite that tests the functioning of the entire application effectively.
By aligning with all the strategies and principles that we have put forward in this article, you can build a powerful and sustainable test automation ecosystem which can drive high-quality and faster deliveries in the software development cycle. You should also pay proper attention towards efficiently maintaining the security and integrity of the testing cycle.
