An Introduction to Selenium Automation Testing

Even if you’ve never used it, if you’re in the software automation industry, then you’ve at least heard of Selenium, the open-source automation testing framework. Over the years, this tool has become increasingly popular amongst quality assurance testers thanks to its ease of use and, of course, its affordability.  

However, for those of you who are not in the software testing industry, you’re likely not sure what your QA tester means when they start talking about Selenium. That’s why we’ve put together this quick introduction to everything you need to know about Selenium Automation Testing: 

What is Selenium? 

When testing your web application on different web browsers, your QA tester will apply automated tests—that is, pre-scripted tests that run with very little human interference. Selenium is used to carry out those tests. It’s completely free (open-sourced) and it can be used across several programming languages including Java, C#, Python, and more. 

The Selenium Suite 

Selenium isn’t just one application, it’s a whole suite of components used for automated testing, including the following: 

• Selenium WebDriver (AKA Selenium 2.0) 
• Selenium IDE 
• Selenium Grid 

Why choose Selenium over other tools? 

There are tons of different automated testing frameworks for you to choose from, so why choose Selenium? There are a variety of reasons, but here are just a few: 

• It’s free 
• It can be used across multiple operating systems (Mac OS, Linux, Windows, etc.) 
• It’s easy to implement 
• And easy to learn and use 
• It can be used across multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, Edge, etc.) 
• With multiple components and features, it is more flexible than other automated testing tools 

The above information is only an introduction to the many facets of Selenium. To learn more about this automated testing framework, or to have your web application tested using Selenium, contact Beta Breakers today.