Many, perhaps most of the applications today are written as web-based applications so that they can run in an internet browser. Significant differences exist in the efficacy of testing these applications among various organizations.
In an era of highly dynamic and responsive application development processes, when many organizations utilize some variation of the Agile approach, test automation is frequently becoming a prerequisite for software projects. Test automation runs repeated tests on that application which has to be tested using automated tools. There are many advantages to test automation. Mostly they relate to how quickly the tests can be performed and how repeatable they are.
There are several commercial and open-source tools available for assisting with the development of test automation. Possibly the most reliable and popular open-source solution is Selenium. Selenium automation has allowed QA engineers to reduce manual testing efforts, increase test execution speed, and identify the maximum number of bugs immediately.
Selenium WebDriver is one of the most widely used tools of the Selenium suite. It simplifies the management of browser drivers required for Selenium automation by automating downloading and managing browser drivers. This eliminates manual intervention and ensures seamless test execution across different environments.
However, to get efficient results from Selenium test scripts, it is necessary to be well acquainted with the relevant WebDriver best practices so that QAs can establish a reliable test cycle.
In this article, we will assist new and experienced Selenium users learn effective techniques for creating efficient test scripts for web applications. But before we move to that let’s have a brief introduction to Selenium WebDriver and test scripts.
What is Webdriver?
WebDriver is a very powerful tool that simplifies the management of browser drivers that are required for automation. It also automates the process of downloading and managing browser drivers, eliminating the need for manual intervention and ensuring seamless execution of tests across different environments. WebDriver is an API written in more than one language and they are called language bindings. The API has functions to control a browser. You can use those functions in writing a script that controls a browser in the way (test case) you want.
WebDrivers are portable software testing frameworks. WebDriver provides a test domain-specific language to write tests in several popular programming languages, including Java, C#, Groovy, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby.
What is Test Scripts?
Well-functioning automated test scripts are the first test step to successful test automation. Automated tests are executed frequently and with the application changing frequently, test scripts need to be fast, easily readable, and maintainable. One of the most common reasons why a test script fails is that the team fails to maintain the automated test scripts.
Test scripts are line-by-line descriptions of the system transactions that must be executed or performed to validate the application or system that is to be tested. Every action that needs to be completed and the anticipated outcomes should always be listed in the test script. This automated script will allow the tester to scan each level of a variety with a wide range of devices systematically.
- The test script should contain the entries to be included as well as the expected results.
- The automated Scripts can be written using any programming language such as C/C++/Python/Perl/Batch Scripts.
The automation script enables the testers to thoroughly test each level on a wide range of devices. These test scripts must include both the actual items to be executed and the expected results.
One can use any type of testing tool that supports activities across the testing life cycle. There are various parameters to be taken into account like time, budget, size of the project, and technical competency of the individual members of a team.
Ensuring efficient test scripting is the main focus of web driver best practices. The use and practice of web drivers are designed to improve reliability, maintainability, and test scalability. To enhance Selenium WebDriver test script efficiency it is important to follow the below-mentioned best practices. Let’s get started
WebDriver Best Practices: Enhancing Test Scripting Efficiency
The following WebDriver recommended best practices below will help QAs enhance the overall effectiveness of their testing phase and optimize Selenium test script reliability, and efficiency, and make it easy to maintain.
Use Page Object Model (POM)
The Page Object Model (POM) design pattern helps create more maintainable and reusable code. Separating the test logic from the page object improves the organization of the firm and the readability of the code. There are two main advantages of the page object model:
- There is a clean separation between test code and page-specific code such as locators and layout.
- There is a single repository for the services or operations offered by the page rather than having these services scattered throughout the tests.
- Avoid using Thread.Sleep()
Sleep() does not adjust with the actual state of the application that is being tested because it is a static, hard-coded wait. If the application is faster or slower than expected then your test may either waste time waiting unnecessarily or miss some important events or elements. Avoid using Thread. sleep() as much as possible as it may result in inconsistent testing. Explicit waits are preferable over Thread. sleep().
Use data providers
A data provider is a feature of the TestNG library that allows a developer to run the same suite of test cases with different data sets. It helps the developer to test the application with various parameters to aid in its development. Testers can use this to test the business logic of any application. TestNG Data Providers will help to assist in transferring test data to test procedures. Because of numerous data combinations that may be tested using a single test procedure, it will increase the testing efficiency and effectiveness.
Use the right locator
A locator will help in finding the items available on a page. These Finding element methods will receive this argument as an input. Using this appropriate location is critical to the test’s dependability as it is one of the most important components of a Selenium script. Choosing the proper locator helps to improve the script’s efficiency and reduce the flakiness of the scripts. Compared to CSS and XPath locators, ID and name locators are typically the fastest and most dependable executions.
Incorporate the test-driven script
Writing tests are about testing the software on multiple data permutations and combinations. Therefore, these tests should be data-driven, where multiple data points should drive all tests. A data-driven framework helps to achieve this and allows tests to be easily maintained.
Use the right wait
Web elements or pages may take a little time to load, and it is essential to give a specific wait time for the script to load so that it can avoid failure. WebDriver provides two types of waits: Implicit and Explicit waits. Both wait for the script to stop running until it locates the proper element.
The difference between the two is that implicit wait applies globally to the whole script, and it can sometimes cause unnecessary delays, which can lead to slower test execution. Explicit wait, however, is limited to a particular web element. It also helps to save needless delays and is more accurate than implicit.
Appropriately name the test cases and the test suite
While working in a team, there are cases where the team member needs to change or enhance the tests as per requirement. Therefore if the test cases are not named appropriately it becomes difficult for other team members when they revisit the same test after a few months to figure out the purpose of the test, until they go through the complete implementation, this scrolling through the implementation results IN unnecessary wastage of time
Some of the test cases might fail during the execution stage, properly named test cases are self-explanatory, and make it easy to figure out which functionality is broken by just looking at the test name.
Don’t create scripts specific to a browser or driver
Cross-browser testing is a critical aspect of testing. Tests should always be conducted on various browsers or a specific browser, based on the demands of the organization or the firm. Selenium frameworks like TestNG provide annotations like @Parameters, and JUnit provides annotations like @RunWith, which helps in running tests on multiple browsers and corresponding drivers.
Build atomic scripts
Selenium test efficiency can be enhanced by creating individual test cases for complex scenarios Frameworks like TestNG provide explicit test dependency support between test methods, whereas atomic tests can quickly detect the failures, reduce testing time and effort spent in maintenance, they also minimize test dependency and speeds up the Selenium tests.
Validate tests using assertions
During execution, assertions are used to verify the message that a TestStep received. Typically, this is done by comparing a portion of the message, or the complete message, to an expected value. A sampler TestStep can have any number of assertions added to it, each of which validates a distinct response feature or content. To write good tests, it is very crucial to validate them. TestNG and JUnit frameworks’ assertions should be used to validate all Selenium tests. Without assertions, this testing process is incomplete and fails to certify the accuracy of the test build.
Learn continuous integration tools
Integrate the WebDriver test automation seamlessly into your Continuous Integration (CI) pipeline using tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, or Azure Pipelines. Automate all test executions that are triggered by code commits, scheduled builds, or integration events to ensure continuous testing. Continuous Integration (CI) always fosters collaboration, accelerates feedback loops, and enhances overall software quality through automated testing.
We have highlighted the Selenium best practices that developers can always use to improve the efficiency of their test scripts.
Selenium testing through the LambdaTest platform
Selenium automation aims to reduce manual testing efforts, increase execution, and easily identify bugs and issues. To get the most out of their Selenium scripts, it is suggested to run Selenium test scripts on automation testing platforms like LambdaTest.
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that allows running manual and automated tests at scale. This platform also enables testers to perform real-time and automation testing of both web and mobile applications by providing a secure, reliable, and scalable Selenium grid of more than 3000 environments, real mobile devices, and browsers online.
To expedite the speed of Selenium test cases, testers can leverage parallel testing capability to run multiple test cases simultaneously on different device-browser combinations and operating system configurations, including all the test suites in no time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, adhering to these WebDriver best practices can significantly elevate test scripting efficiency and effectiveness. In the dynamic realm of test automation incorporating these best practices into a test automation strategy can ensure a robust and efficient WebDriver manager setup. To enable quicker, more reliable, efficient, and more reliable testing, embrace automation, stay current, and WebDriver will handle all the browser driver administration.
Selenium test automation has grown to be a crucial component of quality control over time. Anyone can benefit from it by adhering to the best practices mentioned above. Though there are no specific rules for creating Selenium test automation scripts, these Selenium best practices will act as effective guidelines.
