Selenium is one of the market leaders in the world of automation testing. With the help of its innovative features and a suite of multiple testing tools, Selenium has managed to maintain the top position in the automation testing industry for almost a decade now. Selenium WebDriver is often regarded as the most important component of the Selenium test suite. This is because the Selenium WebDriver is responsible for the initiation of the automation testing processes and the proper execution of these test cases in the respective elements of a web application. Java is one of the popular programming languages developers can use to create automation test cases with Selenium. Creating test cases is one of the most important processes for the successful execution of automation testing.

In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know for performing Selenium WebDriver automation testing with the help of the Java programming language. We will also discuss some of the best practices that can help automation testers to improve their testing experience while using the Selenium WebDriver.

Introduction to Selenium

We can introduce the Selenium automation test suite as an umbrella project created to perform effortless automation testing of web applications. The open-source nature of Selenium makes all of its tools accessible to individual creators and small companies to use without the hassle of paying any licensing fee. Selenium is a test suite that consists of different tools that serve different purposes during the application testing lifecycle.

In the latter part of this article, we will learn more about the individual functions of all the components in the Selenium test suite. One of the most interesting facts about Selenium is that during the initial years, it was known as the JavaScriptTestRunner. The reason behind this naming scheme was that this testing suite was developed with the help of this programming language.

With time, it was renamed Selenium, and this name has stayed on to date. Currently, Selenium is on its fourth version, which was released recently. The fourth version of Selenium added various improvements to all of the component tools, especially the Selenium WebDriver, to influence modern testing practices properly. One of the massive drawbacks of Selenium is that the developers can use this test suit to verify the functioning of web applications. Considering the variety of the modern app market, this restriction can massively cripple the development capabilities of a company.

Components of Selenium Test Suite

Now it is time to improve our knowledge of all the components present in the Selenium test suite. They are as follows:

1.   Selenium Grid

It allows the developers to initiate parallel testing on their automation test cases. Many application developers consider parallel testing a boon that has further improved the usefulness of automation test cases. With parallel testing, app developers can initiate multiple test instances simultaneously. For this process, the Selenium Grid works on the principle of a hub connected to several nodes. On the initiation of a test case, it is forwarded to the principal hub. The principal hub will analyze the test case and forward it to the respective hub for the execution process. This process continues until the system completes all the test cases.

2.   Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment)

It is responsible for creating the test cases. It takes a unique approach to develop all the automation test cases for verifying the proper functioning of the web application. For this process, the developers have to use the web app like a normal user, and the system will automatically continue to generate the test cases according to the interaction. It is a real-time process, and the developers can visualize the progress as they continue to interact with the web application. Since the test cases are developed based on real-world parameters, it will be a highly accurate web application analysis.

3.   Selenium WebDriver

This is probably the most important component of the entire Selenium test suite.  This is because it is the responsibility of the Selenium WebDriver not only to initiate the test cases but also to execute them on the targeted elements present in the web application. Selenium WebDriver also helps the application testers to maintain an activity log for all the testing processes that are currently active. After the Selenium 4.0 update, Selenium WebDriver was massively improved further to elevate its importance in the application testing lifecycle. One of the massive advantages of the Selenium WebDriver is that it does not require a dedicated engine for functioning. This is because Selenium WebDriver can directly interact with all the elements of a web browser.

Using Selenium with Java

Now let us take a quick look at some of the most important factors that developers must consider while using Selenium with Java as programming language:

• The automation test cases developed with Java are faster than other popular programming languages like Python. Moreover, Java is one of the most widely used programming languages in the commercial sector, so most developers want to create automation test cases in this language.
• In most cases, developers use Java automation test cases to perform automated functional testing on web applications. Functional testing helps the developers ensure that the final product is ready to be released and does not contain any critical bugs that can cripple the functioning of all the components in the application.
• To use Java with Selenium, the developers have to first install the Java development kit and also a Java-IDE like Eclipse. It is also important to have the latest version of the Selenium client and web driver language bindings present on your system.
• The next step in this process is to configure the Selenium WebDriver using Eclipse. This process will help the developers to improve the Java test cases in the native Selenium environment. The final step in this process is to create and run your first Java-based automation test case using Selenium.

While conducting this process, it is very important for the developers to create a dedicated workspace for the automation test cases. It is an important step as it will help the automation testers to keep track of all the functional test cases that are created with the Java programming language. This process is also important to maintain a proper activity log during the application development lifecycle. One of the best testing practices is to name the test cases depending on the elements that they are targeted to test. This will help you to quickly identify the bugs and errors present in the respective elements.

Role of Tools and Platforms in Automation Testing with Selenium

Various tools and platforms play a critical role in improving the effectiveness of the Selenium testbench. This is because the concept of automation testing can be overwhelming for developers who are new to this industry. Moreover, various platforms introduce certain third-party features that further elevate the quality of application testing. For instance, cloud platforms help developers to eliminate the hassle of maintaining a physical device testing lab and save a lot of time and expenses. This is because cloud platforms have multiple devices stored on their servers that are accessible by paying only a minimum license fee.

Moreover, the developers can conduct the testing processes on these devices from anywhere in the world. We can further improve our knowledge of cloud testing integration with the help of LambdaTest as an example:

To begin the discussion, we will introduce LambdaTest as a secure platform that helps developers to conduct modern cross-browser compatibility test cases on their web apps. Cross-browser testing has become a compulsory industry practice to ensure that you provide the best end-user experience to your customers. This is because cross-browser compatibility testing helps the developers to ensure that the web application maintains the highest level of performance irrespective of user changes in the operating system or browser version.

LambdaTest also has multiple advanced features to improve the efficiency of the automation test cases. For instance, with the help of parallel test execution, LamdaTest can complete all the test cases within a few days. While using LambdaTest, the developers can import the test cases from different automation frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright.

It is worth noting that while using the Selenium automation test cases, the developers can execute the testing processes on more than three thousand different browser versions at the same time. LambdaTest can improve the accuracy of the test reports by combining multiple results from hundreds of simulators, emulators, and multiple real devices. While using this platform, the developers can perform cross-browser compatibility test cases on web apps that have local servers as their host.

Conclusion

Java is one of the most popular programming languages currently used in the modern development market. The integration of Java and automation testing can massively influence the testing capabilities of a company. However, there are various factors that the developers must consider to ensure that they can properly execute this integration. Moreover, various tools and platforms play a vital role in ensuring the success of this transition.

So, application development companies need to spread proper awareness regarding this segment. The application developers should also consider the knowledge of automation testing and multiple programming languages as one of the vital factors for improving their portfolio. As we proceed toward a market that will be completely dominated by automation testing, this knowledge will be highly critical.