Selenium is a flexible open-source software that has been developed mainly to validate modern web applications related to different platforms and browsing software.It is a single interface with a playback tool by which a user can test various programming languages related to the web applications without using any test script language.  In the context of automation testing, Selenium is referred to as a WebDriver which bridges the web browsers with the actions of its users. A comprehensive Selenium Course can guide you through the intricacies of using Selenium as a Webdriver and confidently utilize it as a powerful tool in development as well as testing.

As a pioneer of testing service providers, LambdaTest encounters both advantages and disadvantages of utilising Selenium automation testing. In this blog, we would like to shed light on the challenges we have faced during our experiences. 

The general workflow of the Selenium automation testing:

1.   Design The Test Scenario: On the basis of the application requirement, the testers plan the roster and design the possible test scenarios that need to be followed.

2.   Creating a Test Script: A test script is mainly the layout of certain components, used as actions to perform a process (filling the data, navigation, verification process etc.).

3.   Execution Phase: The execution phase is a crucial step where the process layout will be executed on different web browsers to rate the development quality of the application. It also tests the habituation of the application on different platforms.

4.   Verification process and Proclamation: It is the step where we tally the actual behaviour with the projected outcome.

5.   Report Documentation: The Selenium platform provides auto-generated test reports with a benchmark to identify the following case passed or failed with the errors and exceptions.

In the comprehensive testing Selenium focuses on the front-end section of a particular application as its major. Now, we are going to discuss the top 10 most challenging scenarios to automate with the Selenium web driver we have faced so far at LambdaTest.

Top 10 most challenging scenarios

1.   Web elements with dynamic nature:

The dynamic web elements are referred to as the webpage elements where the user can update the data by bypassing the whole page reload. These web features can be manipulated by the client by using scripting languages to make the user involvement more interactive and responsive through Selenium.

When we use these elements here at LambdaTest, we found them so challenging on the basis of their consistency across the different test runs. Dealing with the dynamic web components is really challenging for their availability and attributes are not similar for every process. To neutralise these problems, we can use various techniques encoded in Selenium;

• The use of explicit waits helps the process to wait for a certain condition of a specific test script. It makes the entire process more interactive.
• Using some dynamic locator can be a good call, like IDs and names of a class. Using flexible locators like paths and selectors changes the page position.
• If any process encounters a StaleElementReferenceException, we can refresh the references by researching the elements.

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2.  Alerts and Pop-ups:

These are the most common JavaScript enabled features that handle the important messages and notifications for a website to convey information. In Selenium, the alerts and pop-up dialog modals are really tricky which can interrupt the flow of the test.  We need to divide the alerts and pop-ups into some subclasses;

• Simple: It is a type of alert where we can display the text by using an “OK” button which cannot be customised in nature.
• Confirm: It contains the “Cancel” and “OK” buttons itself to handle the user acceptance and rejection.
•  Prompt: It contains some prompts to take some user input through it.

3. Application which are synchronous in nature:

It is a situation where the elements of a website or the projected actions are really slow. That means they take so much time to load, update and possibly interactable. Too many animations, rendering and network latency are some possible reasons. In Selenium, the test script needs to wait for the elements to appear and users have to wait some time to change the state of the element.   They must include:

• Basic Web Structure: These applications are simple and generic in nature. It uses some formations like taking information, submitting data, response taking etc.
• Static Web Structure: They use JavaScript and are loaded with dynamic content.
•  Content Mode Web: Main aim of these sites is to show content like blogs, sites and information.
•  E-commerce Web: These sites have two modes as client side and the provider side which are generally synchronous in manner.

4.   IFrames With Nested Elements:

These are some HTML elements that allow the user to perform the override on the current document. It is a condition where a website resides in another one. When we are dealing with the IFrames Nested Elements in Selenium, we need to switch the focus of the driver. Here is a guide –

• Identify the IFrames: Deploying the new development tools with proper HTML binding for a web page is a good option with Selenium.
• Parent IFrame: Include the Parent IFrame with the WebDriver to switch it as the argument.
• Interact with the elements: After the switching process is done, we will locate and interact with the insider elements with Selenium commands.
• Get back the Default content: When the process is done, we will try to retain the default content itself by using the Selenium.

5.   Security Mechanisms with Captcha:

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart is a security channel that verifies the user is human or robot. The captcha involves so many challenges which are easy for humans not for the robots. In Selenium, websites apply so many anti-automation modes to track the robotic activity. But as the captchas are one type of animation that needs a certain amount of time to load, and makes the process more challenging to detect the headless browsers.

6. Data driven testing process:

It is a software testing process that has been developed to perform the testing with multiple sets. We can take data sets such as Excel, CSV and databases. At LambdaTest, we prepare the different sets of data to read them through the process. If the outcome is not up to the mark, we modify the script and perform the loop again. Here are some examples –

• Identify Test Format: Here we determine the test cases, suitable for data-driven testing.
• Prepare Test Data Format: It creates the test data sets that cover various scenarios and is capable of taking the input combinations.
• Data Source Selection Process: After filtering the data source with external APIs we perform the process.
•  Test Reporting: Keep the summary of the data set and analyse them for the further process.

7.   Cross-Browser Testing:

The Cross-Browser testing is a critical move that ensures the website functions correctly to maintain the consistency of the version. It addresses the compatibility glitches of the application to point out the specific issues with the drivers. The process is based on these steps:

• Identify the targets: Need to identify the target browsers and note down the version for the target people and develop the user stats.
• Install Web driver: Install Selenium web driver to the targeted browser.
• Test script development: Write the test scripts that are independent in nature and loaded with some browser specific details.
•  Run the test cases with Selenium automation.
• At last, we need to analyse the results for future implications

8.  Performance and Load Testing:

Performance and Load Testing both are most essential for the software testing which is also essential for evaluating the performance and scaling the application under various conditions. There are different types of testing mentioned below:

•  Test Loading: This process mainly involves simulating multiple users who have access to the application. It helps to mark the performance of the system.
•  Stress testing: Under extreme conditions, the parameter will be checked to determine the breaking point of the system. It includes a safe passage also to run the recovery process in a failure.
•  Endurance process of Testing: It maintains the stability and performance to check the memory leak related to the resource issues.

9.  Handling Browser Compatibility Testing:

It is a crucial process to ensure that the web application is functioning correctly. To maintain the consistency across the all-present web browsers with the versions. Some best practices mentioned below –

• Test It with Supported Browsers: Create a list of the possible browsers as per the user’s needs. Try to focus on the well-known and common browsing platforms.
•  Use Of the Explicit Waits: The different drivers have different refresh latency. With the conditions, we can ensure the visible elements which are not traceable in nature.
• Avoid Locators of The Browsers: The locators increase the load of the browser. So cut them down in the first place and include the explorer specific attributes to test the data in a generic manner.
•  Avoid Hard Waits: Try not to use hard codes which result in timing errors for a website.
• Test on Various Devices: Test the application on various devices to validate the immunity for all real time devices and platforms.

10.   Capturing Screenshots and Debugging:

Capturing Screenshots and Debugging is an in-between test execution process which is a valuable process to perform the debug process with the proper documentation. Selenium empowers the users to perform the WebDriver programmatically.

• Statement Print Process: It is an output process to get the relevant output with the test execution flow. It helps to mark the unexpected behaviours for a certain application.
• Logging process: The test script implements the detailed login information for each step of the execution process. The test flow and issues flagging are key goal of the flow.
•  Pause execution process: Includes and marks the breaking point of the code and has the capability to halt the execution temporarily during the process.
• Taking Screenshots: This feature helps the user to inspect the state of the page in every step. The actions of the comparison and analyzation will be critically evaluated here.
• Browse developer tools: To know the application behaviour we will explore the valuable insights of the process with Selenium.
• Perform Try-Catch Block: With Selenium we will use the Try-Catch Block method to bypass the exceptions and errors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Selenium is a powerful testing framework that provides a suite of tools to automate the web applications related to the new age browsers.