Selenium Automation Testing. Best Practices
Tags: testing, automation, selenium
Published: 2020-04-09 15:49:36

##What is Selenium Testing#
Selenium automated testing is the most popular open-source automated [testing tool](https://www.qamadness.com/12-most-favorite-testing-tools/) in the technology industry today. Bringing immense benefits, selenium testing offers robust, browser-based automation for end-to-end testing. So, before you think this is the answer to your testing prayers, its important to remember that great toolsets don’t necessarily guarantee great success.

Ultimately, the best results come from finely tuned implementations and application of best practice methods.

## Selenium Best Practices#
We could write books about Selenium’s features, but the real value lies in how your DevOps team untaps the value of the powerful Selenium automation testing tool.

**Teamwork**
Communication and collaboration across [DevOps](https://www.qamadness.com/devops-and-the-role-of-qa/) and the business are key to any strategy. Driving the importance of testing with stakeholders support and shared vision promotes increased benefits and opportunities to achieving the best results.

**Develop Resources**
Selenium can present a steep learning curve without some knowledge of programming, which is recommended to fully grasp and configure its powerful features. Explore the [online resources](https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/en/) available and discover countless [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4-_tVx2rE) and tutorial videos to harness Selenium’s potential.

**Mentorships**
Having a key member skilled and experienced in Selenium is an invaluable resource. Encourage experts to mentor and disseminate their expertise and knowledge to build a solid and valued Selenium testing team.

![Selenium best Practices](https://www.qamadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/photo-1491911923017-19f90d8d7f83.jpg)

### Establish Robust Processes#
**Set Naming Conventions**
Establishing standard naming conventions for every type of file created helps streamline development and Selenium testing processes. For example:

<ul><li>Don’t use prefixes or suffixes when naming utility classes, instead follow Java format standards.</li>
<li>Differentiate the page object classes from other classes, like the utility or test classes.</li></ul>

**Centralized Folder Structures**
In a central repository for the Selenium team, organize and define folder structures with established naming conventions to set up a solid foundation for Dev and the Selenium testers. Time wasted on erroneous filenames and code issues has a far greater impact negatively.

####Testing Focus#
**Cross-Browser Testing**
Selenium’s cross-browser testing functionality uses the Selenium Web driver to enable the web application to suit different audiences.
In today’s world, there are several popular devices and browsers so testing across all platforms is integral to an application’s all-round market success.

![Selenium testing](https://www.qamadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/selenium-browserstack.jpeg)

Selenium automated testing executes a test case at one location to run through multiple defined platforms.

**Data-Driven Testing**
With Selenium testing you can use a Data-Driven Framework, a Keyword Driven Framework or a Hybrid of both. Data-Driven frameworks are more effective in how the data set is separated from actual test code. Input test data is taken from external sources (Excel, CSV, etc.)

####Technical Tweaks#
**Page Object Model (POM)**
Using the Page Object Model (POM) is fast becoming a popular design pattern in Selenium automated testing.

POM improves Selenium test maintenance and reduces code duplication and the pattern can be used in any framework. Selenium testing uses the methods from the POM whenever an interaction is required with the User Interface (UI). So, if the UI changes, the tests don’t need to change.

Note: Page Factory initializes the web elements for interactions with the page object when an instance is created.


Benefits of POM:

<ul><li>Achieve code reusability by writing the code once and using it across multiple tests.</li>
<li>A clear distinction between test code and specific code changes.</li>
<li>Readability is improved between test code and page code.</li></ul>

**Pause Settings**
Browser user operations are asynchronous where it waits for the user to perform an action or for an application to load. Automated testing can easily fail while expecting an event or app, so adding in pause settings helps avoid unnecessary testing failures.
Selenium can handle these time-consuming events through implicit and explicit waiting conditions.

**Locators**
Locators provide access to HTML elements from a web page. In Selenium, the locators perform actions on links, text boxes, checkboxes.

The Selenium framework interacts with the browser to navigate, click, enter text and select options according to the test using locators that refer to the Class, ID, Link Text, PartPartial Link Textual, Tag Name and XPath. It’s imperative to choose the right locators to avoid tests failing at the smallest change in the user interface.

<ul><li>If locators are present, define unique classes or IDs as Selenium locators.</li>
<li> Using locators is an important strategy to correctly locate elements in Selenium testing.</li>
<li> Testing incorrect components or having Selenium unable to locate them has a disruptive knock-on effect to the automated testing.</li></ul>

*Unique IDs*
The developer needs to define unique references for web objects that are present on the page. The ID mustn’t be repeated elsewhere although exceptions do apply. The ID is the best used locator in Selenium.

![Selenium test maintenance](https://www.qamadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/photo-1453060113865-968cea1ad53a.jpg)

##Conclusion##
By leveraging effective Selenium automation testing techniques with efficient DevOps processes, the ripple-effect is unstoppable. Marketing efforts are complemented, business objectives are achieved while product stability improves and enhances customer experience.
This allows for more product innovation and less support, which in turn boosts company morale and motivates those who build your products