What is Selenium?
Tags: selenium, seleniumcourse, seleniumcertification, automationtesting
Published: 2022-02-16 11:02:26

Tests are the single most important stage of the lifecycle of software development and its main goal is to ensure that the software is free of bugs that can meet the requirements of customers. Testing is a gruelling process because it requires hand-held execution of test procedures using various software to identify bugs and other errors.

What if we could automatize the testing process? It would be less tedious and Selenium accomplishes this. If you're keen to know the basics of automation testing, you can check out the [Selenium certification](https://www.edureka.co/selenium-certification-training).

## The Challenges of Manual Testing
Manual testing is among the most basic methods of testing software. It doesn't require expertise or experience of any software testing instrument and is able to test every software.

The tester runs test scenarios against the application and then examines the results against the desired results. Any differences are deemed to be a flaw and immediately corrected. The tests are then run again to ensure that there is no error in the application.

Manual testing is not without its disadvantages, but one of them could include:
- It's a long-winded process.
- There's a significant chance of an error
- It is required to be present a tester at all times
- Logs require manual creation
- It has a narrow area of
 application
With all the disadvantages the need to automatize the process of testing was in great demand. Let's look at the development of Selenium before we look into exactly what Selenium is.

## Advent of Selenium
Jason Huggins, an engineer at ThoughtWorks, Chicago, found manual testing boring and repetitive. He developed a JavaScript program to automate the testing of a web application, called JavaScriptTestRunner.

Initially, the invention was initially used by employees of Thoughtworks. But in 2004it got changed to Selenium and became open source. Since its beginning, Selenium has been a effective automation tool that allows you to test web-based applications on various platforms.

## What exactly is Selenium?
Selenium is an open-source automated test tool used to test web-based applications on different browsers. Selenium is a web-based test tool that can only test applications, which means mobile and desktop applications can't be evaluated. Other tools, such as Appium or HP's QTP are able to test mobile and software applications.

## What is it that makes Selenium so popular as a Testing Tool?

- Selenium is simple to use as it's written in JavaScript
- Selenium is able to test web-based applications against various browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari
- Tests are coded using a variety of programming languages, including Java, Python, Perl, PHP, and Ruby
- Selenium is platform-independent, meaning it can deploy on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh
- Selenium could be combined with tools such as JUnit and TestNG to help manage test results.

## Selenium Suite of Tools
Selenium comes with a specific suite that allows for the testing of web-based applications.

## Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
It is typical that IDE tracks user interaction within the browser and then exports the information as a script that can be reused.

IDE was designed to make it easier to create automated scripts. It's an instrument for rapid prototyping and is a tool for engineers with no programming skills at all.

IDE was discontinued in August 2017 , when Firefox updated to a version called Firefox 55 version that did not support Selenium IDE. Applitools revamped the original Selenium IDE and released a new version in the year 2019. The most recent version was accompanied by many improvements.

Selenium IDE has several flaws:

- It doesn't allow data-driven testing.
- It's not able to conduct database testing.
- It's not possible to provide a thorough test report.
- It isn't able to export to WebDriver scripts. 

## Selenium Remote Control (RC)
Paul Hammant developed Selenium Remote Control (RC). Before we get into RC it's crucial to understand how RC was created in the first place in the first.

At first, a tool named Selenium-Core was developed. It was a collection of JavaScript functions that could interpret the Selenese commands by using its built-in JavaScript interpreter. Selenium-Core then was integrated into the browser.

Let's take a look at JavaScript, test.js used by google.com. The program is able to access websites such as google.com/mail and google.com/login inside google.com. google.com domain.

The program, however, is unable to access the elements of other domains such as yahoo.com. The local copies of Selenium-Core and the web browser were required to be installed to ensure that they could be part of one domain. This is known as"the Same Origin Policy, and Selenium RC was created to overcome this issue. The server is an HTTP client that has been configured as an HTTP proxy that "tricks" your browser to thinking it is Selenium Core and the web application that is being tested are of the same place.

Therefore, Selenium RC is a server developed in Java which allows creating tests for applications in a variety of programming languages such as Java, C#, Perl, PHP, Python and more. The RC server takes commands from the user's program and sends to the browser with Sequence-Core JavaScript (SJSC) commands.

## Selenium WebDriver
Created in 2006 by Simon Stewart in 2006, Selenium WebDriver was the first test framework for cross-platforms that could modify and control browsers on an OS level. It functioned as an interface to program and execute test cases.

Contrary to Selenium RC, WebDriver doesn't require a central engine like RC and is able to interact directly with browser applications. WebDriver is also compatible with a variety of programming languages, including Python, Ruby, PHP and Perl as well as other languages, and is coupled with frameworks like TestNG and JUnit to manage test results.

The structure for Selenium WebDriver is simple and simple to comprehend:

- Selenium test script- Selenium test script is the program created in any programming language, be that Java, Perl, PHP or Python which can be read in the computer driver.
- JSON Wire Protocol - JSON Wire Protocol offers an interface for the transfer of data between servers and the client. JSON Wire Protocol is an industry-wide standard to many web-based services.
- Drivers For Browsers- Selenium utilizes drivers that are specific to each browser to establish a secure connection to the browser.
- Browsers- The browser Selenium WebDriver allows for a variety of web browsers that you can test and run apps on.

## Selenium Grid
Patrick Lightbody developed a grid with the aim of reducing test execution time. This was made possible by dispersing the test commands across multiple machines at the same time. Selenium Grid allows the parallel execution of tests using various browsers and operating systems. Grid is extremely adaptable and can be integrated with other suite components to allow simultaneous execution.

The Grid is comprised of the hub, which is connected to various nodes. It gets the test to be run together with the information regarding the system operating and the browser to be used and chooses a node which is able to conform to the specifications (browser as well as platform) and passes the test on that particular node. The node is now running in the browser. It executes selenium commands that it has within it.

After knowing the basics of what Selenium is, let's discover the benefits that come with Selenium testing.

## Benefits of Selenium Testing
Selenium automated testing has numerous advantages, for instance:

- Selenium has proved to be precise in its results and is therefore extremely reliable
- Selenium is an open-source element anyone who wants to take the basics of testing can start without cost
- Selenium offers a variety of programming languages, including Python, PHP, Perl, and Ruby
- Selenium is compatible with a variety of browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Opera and many more.
- Selenium is easy to set up and doesn't require engineers to be knowledgeable about the software.
- Selenium offers a wide range of reuse and additional features
- In the process of understanding the meaning of Selenium is, it is important to be aware of what is the limitation of Selenium testing.

## The Limits of Selenium Testing
Selenium is not without its flaws It can have the following shortcomings:

- Because Selenium is an open-source software and free, it isn't part of a community of developers and does not have solid technical support
- Selenium is unable to test desktop or mobile applications.
- Selenium offers a limited amount of assistance for testing images
- Selenium does not provide support for managing tests. Selenium is frequently used in conjunction with tools such as JUnit and TestNG for this purpose.
- It is possible that you will require an understanding of programming languages in order to utilize Selenium

## Salaries and Job Roles
We've now learned about Selenium What are the potential job opportunities and the average pay of Selenium test engineers? Selenium tester?

**The main goals for an Selenium test engineer:**

- Create test cases to identify bugs and mistakes
- Automatization framework design and implementation in accordance to the project's structure
- Automate and improve test procedures
- Participate in the communication of the best practices
- Create test methods and test guides for fixing and tracking software issues.

## Automation Engineer Salaries Salaries
The median salary for engineers working in automation within the United States is $90,390 per year. The average salary in India is around Rs 5,24,000 annually.

More than 1,000 businesses today use Selenium within their technology stacks. Google, Capgemini, TCS and Infosys are just a few of the most prominent companies using Selenium currently.