An Easy Way to Build and Execute Selenium Projects

Selenium is one of the leading automation platforms in web application testing. Using Selenium, you can automate your testing process efficiently and deliver a bug-free product quickly. This article will guide you in building and executing Selenium projects in Java.

According to reports, 67% of Selenium users prefer Java for writing test scripts. Before you learn to build Selenium projects, let’s get to know the basics of Selenium and why it is popular among developers.

What is Selenium?

Selenium is a popular open-source automation testing tool that tests web applications across different browsers, devices, and platforms.

It can run the tests directly on your web browser, drive the interactions on web pages and repeat the tasks without any manual input. It helps eliminate repetitive manual testing, which consumes time and effort. The testing performed using Selenium tool is called Selenium Testing.

Origin of Selenium

Jason Huggins created Selenium in 2004. He was an engineer at Thoughtworks, and he came up with this idea while working on a web application project that required frequent testing.

He understood that manual testing was becoming highly inefficient while testing complex applications and test cases. To ease this process, he built a JavaScript program that could control the browser’s action and automate web application testing.

He named this program as JavaScriptTestRunner. Later on, it was renamed Selenium Core when the program was made open-source.

Selenium Tool Suite

Selenium software is a suite of tools where each tool aids in different testing needs of a business. Different developers developed these tools. The list includes:

• Selenium IDE
• Selenium RC
• WebDriver
• Selenium Grid

Selenium RC

Before the creation of Selenium RC, if testers wanted to use Selenium Core, they had to install the local copies of Selenium Core and the web server of the web application they were testing on their local machines, so they belonged to the same domain. And this was due to the restrictions imposed by the Same Origin Policy Issue.

What is the Same Origin Policy Issue?

The Same Origin Policy restricts the JavaScript program from accessing pages from a domain different from where it was launched.

It means that the JavaScript program can not access pages from different domains. Instead, it can only access pages from the same domain.

To avoid this policy issue, Paul Hammant created Selenium RC. He created a server that can act as an HTTP Proxy to trick the browser into believing that Selenium Core and the web application you’re testing come from the same domain.

Selenium Grid

Patrick Lightbody created Selenium Grid to reduce the test execution time. It allows you to run parallel tests across different machines and browsers. This saves time and helps ensure that the application works efficiently across different browsers, platforms, and operating systems without any issues.

Selenium IDE

Shinya Kasatani developed Selenium IDE. It is a browser plugin that allows you to write, run and debug your test scripts. It provides a record and playback feature to test web applications across different browsers.

Selenium IDE is available as an extension for Firefox and Chrome web browsers. It can work on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Selenium WebDriver

Simon Stewart created Selenium WebDriver. It is the first cross-platform testing framework that automates web application testing. It supports most programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, C#, PHP, Ruby, and Python.

The WebDriver supports browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, HtmlUnit, and PhantomUnit.

Selenium 4

Selenium 1 refers to Selenium Remote Control (RC). The Selenium team merged the WebDriver and Selenium RC into a single framework called Selenium 2.

And the implementation of WedDriver without Selenium RC is known as Selenium 3. The latest version is Selenium 4, which was launched in 2021. The difference between them is that Selenium 4 offers a direct client-server connection that Selenium 3 cannot.

Why is Selenium Preferred for Automation?

Selenium is a popular browser automation framework. It lets you write test scripts in one programming language and reuse the same scripts on multiple browsers.

There are various benefits to automating the testing process with Selenium which includes:

• Saves Time -You can automate repetitive tasks to speed up the testing process. It helps accelerate the DevOps processes.


• Improves Accuracy – Selenium Testing help improves test accuracy and also reduces the chances of human error.


• Early Bug Detection – With Selenium automation testing, you can detect bugs in the initial stages of software development. This helps developers quickly work on bug fixes and release updates.


• Reusable – You can reuse the same test scripts for different use cases or other projects.


• Less Manual Work – Automation testing requires fewer people to write test scripts. Also, you can write more in-depth test cases for testing complex use cases.


• Cross-browser Testing – Selenium is best for automated cross-browser testing and lets you run tests in parallel. It supports various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari.


• Running Tests 24X7 – You can run tests at any time and anywhere.


• Multi-language support – It supports multiple languages, including Java, PHP, Python, Perl, JavaScript, C#, and Ruby.


• Fast Development and Delivery – You can complete the testing process quickly and efficiently. Hence, you can release updates rapidly.


• Multiple Testing – You can easily perform regression testing, continuous testing, performance and load testing, and more.


• Immediate Feedback – It provides instant feedback. Developers can get quick testing reports, so whenever an error occurs, they can solve it and push for delivery. This helps improve team efficiency and code quality.

How to Build a Selenium Project

You can build Selenium projects in multiple ways. For example, you can build and configure Selenium Projects using Java, Maven, and more. Here, we will see how to build a Selenium project using Java. You need to download the following software to build and configure Selenium projects:

• Java: Install Java or JDK as we use Java to build a Selenium project.


• Eclipse: You have to install Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment). It helps write, run and maintain tests or projects.

Note – You can also use some other IDE like IntelliJ IDEA or NetBeans.

How to Configure Selenium in Eclipse

The most simple way to build a Selenium project is by using Java. To do this, first, you must manually download all the required Selenium jars and the testing frameworks.

Note – We are using Eclipse to execute Selenium test scripts in this example.

Steps to Build and Configure a Selenium Project

Step 1 – Click on the File menu from the navigation. Select New, then click on Java Project. (File -> New -> Java Project)

If you’re using an old version of Eclipse, and if you don’t find Java Project under New, follow these steps,

• Select New and click on Project.
• Now, select Java Project and click Next.

Step 2 – Enter the Project Name building-selenium-project-Testsigma and click Finish.

The Java project building-selenium-project-Testsigma is successfully created in the package explorer of Eclipse.

Step 3 – Now, you need to manually install the necessary Selenium jars and a unit testing framework like TestNG jars. To download these, go to the Selenium downloads page and check on the latest versions.

Step 4 – Let’s install the TestNG jars now.

Step 5 – After you download Selenium server standalone jar, you should add it to the Selenium project. To do so, right-click on the Java Project created, then hover your mouse on Build Path and click on Configure Build Path.

Step 6 – Now, select Add External JARS… option to add the downloaded jar file to the Selenium projects.

Step 7 – Select the jar selenium-server-standalone and TestNG and click Open.

Note – This Jar file will help start the Selenium Server.

Step 8 – Verify if the jar files are added to the Build Path and click on Apply and Close.

Note – Check if the downloaded jar files are under Referenced Libraries

Step 9 – Now, right-click on the src and create a package building-selenium.

As you can see, the building-selenium is created.

Step 10 – Next, right-click on the package created. Select New, then Class, to create a Java Class. Now, enter the Java Class name and click Finish.

This will create a BuildingSeleniumProject.java file, where you can type your test script.Now that we have configured Selenium, let’s write a sample test case in Java.

Sample Selenium Project using Java

The following is a sample Selenium project created using Java in Eclipse,

Code Explanation

This program, on successful execution, will open Google search, type the search text used in the search bar, and display the result page.

Output

When executed, the above code will open Google on the Chrome browser, automatically type the text “Testsigma tool” in the search bar and then display the top search results catering to the search.

The above step-by-step process will help you to build and configure Selenium projects in Eclipse using Java. However, this will require testers to have coding knowledge as they will have to write test scripts using any programming language supported by Selenium.

Selenium supports automation testing only for web applications. But if you’re looking to perform web, mobile app or API testing without needing to program test cases, try out Testsigma.

Testsigma is a cloud-automation testing platform that lets you write tests using simple English. It is a low-code automation platform that does not require much coding knowledge. So, it can be used by anyone on your team. It is a cloud-based tool, so you don’t have to install anything to use the software.

Conclusion

Building and executing a Selenium project may be a bit complicated, but I hope the above step-by-step instructions will help you build your Selenium projects in no time.

Automating test scripts using Selenium for your web application makes testing easy. This helps the developers to identify bugs and solve them quickly. However, if you are looking to test web apps, mobile apps or API without writing a single line of code, you should prefer our cloud automation platform – Testsigma.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Write Test Scripts in Selenium?

Before you start writing test scripts in Selenium, you need to download the necessary components such as Java, IDE, Drivers, Selenium Jars, and, TestNG required to build the test environment. Once you download and complete the setup process, you can then easily write test scripts in Selenium.

Which Language is Best for Selenium?

Java is one of the top programming languages used by testers worldwide. But you can also use other languages like C#, Ruby, JavaScript, and Python. Also, there are a few factors you need to consider when you try to learn a language, like the project requirements and the client’s preference.

Is Selenium Testing Easy?

Automating testing using Selenium is quite easy, but you need to have prior knowledge of programming languages like Java, Ruby, and Python to write, run, and execute test scripts.