A guide to regression testing and automation via Selenium

What is Selenium Testing?

Selenium is an open source web based automation testing framework which is used to automate tests performed on various web browsers. Testing of only web based applications is possible through Selenium there is no desktop or tablet & mobile application can be tested with Selenium framework.

This framework is used to validate web based applications on multi browser as well as multi platform. Selenium supports various programming language like Java, Python, C# etc. for script writing.

There are four categories of Selenium Suite:

• Selenium IDE
• WebDriver
• Selenium RC
• Selenium Grid

Currently, Webdriver and Selenium Grid features merged together and became known as Selenium 2 and then with the addition of new features it’s upgraded to Selenium 3.

What is Selenium Regression Testing?

Making changes to a software application is an unavoidable aspect of development, whether it involves adding new features and functionalities, fixing bugs, or updating the codebase. But with every change comes the risk of accidentally breaking something that was working just fine. This is why regression testing is significant.

However, this process can be quite boring if done manually due to its repetitive nature, and it does consume a lot of time, especially if the software application is bulky. And when it comes to automating this process, Selenium is one of the most popular tools in the game. Selenium is a powerful open-source framework that allows you to create scripts to automate the repetitive task of verifying that nothing is broken after any changes are made to the software, making it a great tool for regression testing automation.

Why are organisations using Selenium testing services?

Selenium is adopted by many organizations because it’s an open source framework which provides testing across multiple different browsers. Below are the few reasons listed about why organizations using the Selenium testing services:

• It’s open source hence cost effective for the organization to adopt
• Saving of massive amount of time, cost and resources
• Higher test coverage
• Multi Browser Support
• Reusability and easily Integration with other CI / CD tools like Jenkins
• Faster Feedback with automation implementation in Agile
• Test Running Efficiency increased
• Multi Language and Multi platform support capability
• Easy to use framework with largest developers community
• Parallel and fast test cases execution

How to Perform Regression Testing Using Selenium?

Performing regression testing using Selenium requires some key steps, which are listed below:

• Step 1: Setting up the Selenium Environment

  Before you can start using Selenium for regression testing, you need to make sure that your environment is set up. For this step, you would need to download and install some applications. This blog explains in detail the steps to set up the Selenium environment.

• Step 2: Add Selenium Dependencies to Your Project

  For you to start using Selenium in your project, you need to add the necessary dependencies needed for Selenium to function. These dependencies include the Selenium WebDriver itself, as well as any supporting libraries or tools that you might want to use, like TestNG for managing test execution. It is important to make sure that the versions of the Selenium WebDriver, TestNG, or any other libraries you add are compatible with each other.

• Step 3: Write Regression Test Cases

  The next step would be to write out the test cases that you want to automate. If you have little time to develop the test cases, you can focus on the features that are most likely to undergo any changes or be affected by any changes. After which you need to write Selenium test scripts for each of the test cases.

• Step 4: Run the Regression Tests

  Once your test scripts are ready, you can then run them. Running the tests can be done in different ways:

  • Running the tests manually directly from the IDE.
  • Running the tests using TestNG to manage multiple regression tests and run them in parallel.
  • Running the tests in parallel. Selenium Grid allows you to run tests on multiple browsers and platforms at the same time.

• Step 5: Review and Analyze Test Results

  After running your regression tests, you will need to review the results. Selenium tests usually provide logs or reports that detail which tests passed or failed. If the tests pass, it means that any code changes have not affected the existing functionalities. However, if tests fail, it means there is an issue that needs to be debugged and fixed.

• Step 6: Integrate with CI/CD Pipeline

  This step is optional, however, to fully automate the regression testing, you can integrate your Selenium tests with a CI/CD pipeline using tools like Jenkins or GitHub Actions.

• Step 7: Maintain and Update Test Scripts

  As the software evolves and changes, you would need to regularly update your regression tests to match the new changes, otherwise the subsequent regression tests would keep failing.

Key Success Factors of Selenium Testing

Generally, testers and software organizations prefer open source tools for performing functional testing. Organizations adopt Selenium because of it’s open source feature which provides facility of multi browser, multi platform and multi language support. It saves a lot of time, cost and resources as well.

Here are some of the key success factors of Selenium testing:

• Choosing the right test automation framework based on the application and technology involved, testing requirements, and skill sets required for performing the automated tests.
• Following the best practices while using Selenium for test automation such as making use of right locators, data-driven testing and choosing the selector order.
• Maintaining Selenium tests is the same as production code as it helps both testers and the developers to make modifications. It can be used for both system functional testing and browser compatibility testing.Clearly reporting failures in the test results. Though Selenium has inbuilt reporting features using frameworks such as JUnit and TestNG, testers prefer Extent reports.
• Complicated tests require a lot of planning and preparation. Having a bunch of highly skilled Selenium testers is one of the most crucial key success factors of Selenium testing.
• Making use of proven test automation processes in order to avoid common pitfalls which lead to automation failures.

Selenium Testing Services

As Selenium is the most widely used open source automation tool for automated application testing, there are a number of organizations across the globe which offers Selenium web application testing services to software organizations which can’t invest a lot of time on testing each and every feature/functionality in order to maintain their release deadlines. As organizations face a lot of pressure related to quality, time-to-market and budget, the professional testing service providers can help save operational-costs, increase test coverage and improve customer satisfaction.

Selenium Testing Services Provider Selection Checklist:

Things to keep in mind before choosing a Selenium Regression Testing service provider for your organization:

• The services are backed by a certified team of Selenium experts which are trusted by clients or have past credentials of providing strategic consulting services in implementing test automation using Selenium.

• Fast automation scripts which facilitates bug reproduction using Selenium IDE.

• Service for regression test automation on multiple platforms.

• Services mob320 selenium_margin automated test suite development and maintenance along with framework development, integration, customization and analysis reports.

• Selenium testing automation is based on the programming language and testing frameworks of the client’s choice.

• Option of implementation of Selenium Grid testing such that Selenium test suite could be optimized and enabled to cover more number of test cases in less time.

When to use Selenium frameworks?

Selenium framework is a code structure that helps in maintaining the code easily and improving the code readability. Without frameworks, neither the code nor the data is readable or re-usable. Using Selenium frameworks comes with numerous benefits such as higher portability, enhanced code re-usage, low script maintenance cost, and higher code readability. With the help of a Selenium framework, testers can optimize the code structure easily.

• Higher portability
• Low script maintenance cost
• Testers can optimize the code structure easily
• Enhanced code re-usage
• higher code readability

As a lot of QA teams don’t bother to spend much time and effort on learning to build a good testing framework, they struggle to maintain and scale their tests in the longer run. It has been observed that a good framework can help the testers in many ways to get things on track.

You can create three types of test frameworks using Selenium WebDriver which mob320 selenium_margins Data Driven Framework, Keyword Driven Framework and Hybrid Framework. If you do not have a framework in place, you might have a single test case comprising the entire test functionality and this single test case can lead up to million lines of code which would be really tough to read. It would be very difficult to change any functionality later as you have to make modifications in the huge code.

• Data Driven Framework
• Hybrid Framework.
• Keyword Driven Framework

If you do not have a framework in place, you might have a single test case comprising the entire test functionality and this single test case can lead up to million lines of code which would be really tough to read. It would be very difficult to change any functionality later as you have to make modifications in a huge code.

Why Should Selenium be selected as test automation tool?

There is no doubt Selenium regression testing and Selenium functional testing is being loved by testers and developers all across the world and is considered as one of the best tools for automation testing.

Here are some of the most important reasons why you should select Selenium as your test automation tool:

• Open Source Availability: Being an open source tool, Selenium can be easily accessible with no upfront cost. Organizations can save a lot of money with Selenium which can be used in the marketing of the application in the later stages.
• Supports Multiple Operating Systems: It is important for your test automation tool to support all the operating systems as different people use different operating systems. Selenium supports various operating systems including Windows, Linux, UNIX, Mac OS etc.

• Parallel Test Execution and Faster Go-to-Market: Selenium Grid helps execute multiple tests across hundreds of browsers at the same time which reduces the test execution time. Faster test execution means faster go-to-market.

• Supports Multiple Browsers: Selenium supports a variety of browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera etc. With this ability, you don’t have to worry about re-writing scripts for each and every browser.

• Easily Implementable: Selenium is an easy-to-use tool which comes with a user-friendly interface. Creating and executing test scripts is very easy with Selenium testing automation tool.

• Active Community and Constant Updates: As Selenium is an open source tool, it is supported by a large active community. The community releases updates and upgrades regularly which are readily available for use.

Why is Selenium Framework so popular for Automation Testing?

One of the most important reasons which makes Selenium framework most popular among other automation testing tools is that it is free while other tools such as Quick Test Professional (QTP) are insanely priced. As in an organization, there are multiple projects running at the same time, buying paid tool licenses for each and every project would burn a big hole in an organization’s pocket.

Another important reason which makes Selenium framework so popular is its cross platform feature where you can run the test scripts in Linux, Mac OS, whereas many other tools are available only in Windows platform. Selenium gives testers the flexibility to use any programming language they already know such as Java, C#, PHP, Python etc. With Selenium IDE, you can develop test cases that you are already familiar with such as Eclipse, Visual Studio, NetBeans.

Selenium comes with a suite of tools such as Selenium-Grid which allows testers to run tests on different devices against different browsers and operating systems in parallel at the same time. The flexibility, extensibility and tight integration of Selenium is unmatched in other tools in the segment.

All these reasons make Selenium Framework the first choice among the automation testers as well as the software organizations.

However, while you choose to automate, look out for hidden costs that you may miss out while choosing an open source solution.

This is explained in the blog by Ajay Balamurugadas here.

What are the types of Selenium Framework?

A framework breaks the entire code into smaller pieces of code which can be used to test specific functionalities.

The most commonly used Selenium Frameworks are:

• Data Driven Framework: It is a technique in which data set is separated from the actual test case. Data driven framework depends upon the input test data and is fed from the external sources such as .CSV, Excel etc. In this framework, you can control the amount of data to be tested easily and the number of test parameters can be increased easily. With this technique, you can modify the test case of a particular functionality by changing the data being tested, without having to make any significant change in your code.
• Hybrid Framework: It is a technique which makes the best use of both data driven framework and keyword driven framework. It is permutations and combinations of both the above-mentioned frameworks.
• Keyword Driven Framework: It is a technique wherein all the operations or instructions to be executed are separate from the actual test case. Like data driven framework, in this technique also the input data is stored in external files such as .CSV and excel. You can easily control the functionalities you want to test with the keyword driven framework by specifying them in the excel file

Best Practices to use Selenium for Test Automation

Here are some of the best practices to use that will bring out the best out of Selenium for test automation:

Here are some of the disadvantages of Selenium testing tool:

• Understanding the Application: It is critical to assess the application effectively as the selection of a tool depends on the application. Understanding the application helps in finalizing the testing strategy, easing out the automation process and enabling effective implementation of the
• Choose the Selector Order: It is important to select the selector order as selectors such as CSS and Xpath are based on the location.
• Circulate Generated Test Reports: As Selenium helps generate test reports in various formats, these test reports can be circulated among the team members which helps in taking the required action on time.
• Making Use or Right Locators: Making the use of right locators is important. Class and ID locators can be used when you want to change the code without the knowledge of developers and testers. Link Text can be used for a dynamic situation while running a test by a marketing team. XPath can be used in navigation of the webdriver.
• Divide the Testing Efforts: Divide the automation effort based on the level of skills and experience of each team member of the QA team. Collective testing becomes much more effective in finding the issues and speeding up the process.

Which is the most common Framework used in Selenium and why?

A test automation framework provides an execution environment for test automation scripts. In simple terms, test automation framework is a process through which an automation tool executes test cases. There are many frameworks that have been developed by various test automation communities in the past decade. Each test automation framework provides unique guidelines, protocols, rules, procedures for the test creation and implementation.

Data-Driven framework is the most commonly used Selenium framework as it is easy to make changes in the test script and a variety of test cases can be executed with several external database resources. In this framework, each test case is observed as a function call wherein data is fed from an external source such as Excel, .CSV etc. In this framework, running the same test case with different sets of test data is very easy.

TestNG framework is one of the most popular frameworks for Selenium web driver which is commonly used in the financial and supply chain industry where data is a key aspect of operations.

What makes data driven framework most popular is that under the framework, it is easy to make modifications in the test script as the test data is maintained separately. The main issue with Data-Driven framework is that it is time-consuming to prepare both test scripts and test data.

Scope Of Test Automation With Selenium

In the past decade, test automation has gone through multiple changes. The trend of automation is changing exponentially and Selenium is making way at the initial development stages with more functional testing. Today, Selenium is considered as one of the best software automation testing tools available for software testers. The flexibility and expandability of the tool makes it eligible to provide a result-driven approach.

As far as automation is concerned, Selenium automation testing is ahead of all other automation testing tools in the marketplace as of now. Talking about the scope of the tool, Selenium has a wide scope and a sharp future with its tools emerging to support a variety of operating systems including Linux, Windows and Mac. In fact, many courses available in the market which explain professionally about the Selenium web driver scripts and its frameworks are in huge demand.

Selenium makes it easier for the software organizations to get high ROI much faster by reducing the number of cycles involved in the testing process. With Selenium, the demand of automation tools in web applications among the software companies has gone very high. Hence, in the current scenario, Selenium is perfectly placed for automated website testing and is continuously getting more popular with time among testers with its rising use in the market.

Are There Any Disadvantages to the Selenium
Testing Tool?

Though Selenium is widely used for unit testing, regression testing and acceptance testing, it has some limitations as well.

Here are some of the disadvantages of Selenium testing tool:

• Selenium requires third party frameworks to fully automate the testing of web applications.
• Selenium has technical issues on browsers other than Firefox.
• Selenium test scripts are difficult to modify as they are not user-friendly in terms of readability.
• Selenium needs third party support for generating reports like TestNG.
• Selenium script creation is a time-taking process and the tools do not support file upload facility.
• Selenium demands high level technical and programming skills from the testers.
• Selenium is not able to find locators without the help of additional tools such as Firebug.
• Selenium does not have test management facilities as test scripts are saved as simple files.
• It is difficult to test image-based applications on Selenium.

There are better alternatives to Selenium which makes the test automation process a lot smoother and efficient for the testers. One such alternative is TestSigma which gives an AI-driven test automation ecosystem enabling faster test execution and maintenance of automated tests. It can automate Web, Android, iOS and API services all at a single place.

Check Selenium alternatives and what benefits they offer.

What types of reports are generated using Selenium & it’s framework?

A good test report is considered as the health certificate of the project as a lot of further planning and decisions depends on these test reports. A good quality report should be short and concise, easily trackable, traceable, shareable, and highlight the test coverage of the module and the application under test. Though Selenium does not have a built-in test reporting feature,but it can be done with the help of some plugins including TestNG and JUnit.

Here are a few techniques which can be used to generate reports in Selenium Webdriver:

• Generating Reports Using TestNG: After the tests are executed, TestNG can generate two kinds of reports including Detailed Report having detailed information on errors, test groups, execution time and step-by-step logs, and Summary Report having information on the number of passed, failed, and skipped cases.
• Generating Reports Using Extent Library: With this technique, you can generate stylish reports using the library. It has the ability to generate reports with the help of pie charts, test case summaries.
• Generating Reports Using JUnit: You can generate HTML reports using JUnit’s class.

So these were some modern-day report generation techniques which can be very useful for the testers and project managers.

How Testsigma Brings Out the Best in Selenium Testing?

Though Selenium is a good tool for regression testing, it can become a little complex for a beginner as you need to have good programming skills and experience to be able to use the tool more effectively and efficiently. Due to this reason, only large software organizations are capable of relying on Selenium for test automation. Testsigma Automated Testing tool addresses all the testing needs of testers such as cross-browser testing, data-driven testing, manual exploratory testing with ability to automate Web, Android, iOS and API testing, all in a single platform.

Testsigma offers an easy to use interface which makes data-driven testing really easy to incorporate. There is zero time and effort required on the initial setup as everything is pre-configured on the cloud and you can start writing and executing your tests from Day 1. With Testsigma, you can create test steps using simple English statements. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create reliable tests in quick time and make your maintenance of automated tests superfast.

Testsigma provides a complete test automation ecosystem where you get personalized dashboard with key business indicators regarding your project, dynamic reports to help you understand the test results more effectively, analytics to take proactive actions towards increased productivity, plugins to help you integrate Testsigma with other key tools in order to achieve continuous regression testing and many others.