Selenium

Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-based administration tasks can (and should!) also be automated as well.

Selenium has the support of some of the largest browser vendors who have taken (or are taking) steps to make Selenium a native part of their browser. It is also the core technology in countless other browser automation tools, APIs and frameworks.

To download the SELENIUM click here.

To know more about Selenium IDE click here.

to know more about Selenium Webdriver click here.

Selenium is a free (open source) automated testing suite for web applications across different browsers and platforms. It is quite similar to HP Quick Test Pro (QTP) only that Selenium focuses on automating web-based applications.

Selenium is not just a single tool but a suite of software’s, each catering to different testing needs of an organization. It has four components.

• Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)


• Selenium Remote Control (RC)


• WebDriver


• Selenium Grid

 

 

Brief Introduction Selenium IDE

Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the simplest framework in the Selenium suite and is the easiest one to learn. It is a Firefox plugin that you can install as easily as you can with other plugins. However, because of its simplicity, Selenium IDE should only be used as a prototyping tool. If you want to create more advanced test cases, you will need to use either Selenium RC or WebDriver.



 

Brief Introduction Selenium Remote Control (Selenium RC)

 Selenium RC was the flagship testing framework of the whole Selenium project for a long time. This is the first automated web testing tool that allowed users to use a programming language they prefer.

As of version 2.25.0, RC can support the following programming languages:

• Java


• C#


• PHP


• Python


• Perl


• Ruby

 

 



Brief Introduction WebDriver

 The WebDriver proves itself to be better than both Selenium IDE and Selenium RC in many aspects. It implements a more modern and stable approach in automating the browser’s actions. WebDriver, unlike Selenium RC, does not rely on JavaScript for automation. It controls the browser by directly communicating to it.

The supported languages are the same as those in Selenium RC.

• Java


• C#


• PHP


• Python


• Perl


• Ruby

 

Selenium Grid

 Selenium Grid is a tool used together with Selenium RC to run parallel tests across different machines and different browsers all at the same time. Parallel execution means running multiple tests at once.

Features:

Enables simultaneous running of tests in multiple browsers and environments

Saves time enormously.

Utilizes the hub-and-nodes concept. The hub acts as a central source of Selenium commands to each node connected to it.

 

Note on Browser and Environment Support

 Because of their architectural differences, Selenium IDE, Selenium RC, and WebDriver support different sets of browsers and operating environments.

	Selenium IDE	Selenium RC	WebDriver
BrowserSupport	Mozilla Firefox	Mozilla FirefoxInternet ExplorerGoogle Chrome Safari Opera Konqueror Others	Internet Explorer versions 6 to 9, both 32 and 64-bitFirefox 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, 4.0, 5.0, 6, 7 and above (current version is 16.0.1)   Google Chrome 12.0.712.0 and above (current version is 22.0.1229.94 m)   Opera 11.5 and above (current version is 12.02)   Android – 2.3 and above for phones and tablets (devices & emulators)   iOS 3+ for phones (devices & emulators) and 3.2+ for tablets (devices & emulators)   HtmlUnit 2.9 and above (current version is 2.10)
Operating System	WindowsMac OS XLinux	WindowsMac OS XLinux Solaris	All operating systems where the browsers above can run.

How to Choose the Right Selenium Tool for Your Need

Tool	Why Choose ?
Selenium IDE	To learn about concepts on automated testing and Selenium, including:Selenese commands such as type, open, clickAndWait, assert, verify, etc.Locators such as id, name, xpath, css selector, etc. Executing customized JavaScript code using runScript Exporting test cases in various formats. To create tests with little or no prior knowledge in programming. To create simple test cases and test suites that you can export later to RC or WebDriver. To test a web application against Firefox only.
Selenium RC	To design a test using a more expressive language than SeleneseTo run your test against different browsers (except HtmlUnit) on different operating systems.To deploy your tests across multiple environments using Selenium Grid. To test your application against a new browser that supports JavaScript. To test web applications with complex AJAX-based scenarios.
WebDriver	To use a certain programming language in designing your test case.To test applications those are rich in AJAX-based functionalities.To execute tests on the HtmlUnit browser. To create customized test results.
Selenium Grid	To run your Selenium RC scripts in multiple browsers and operating systems simultaneously.To run a huge test suite, that need to complete in soonest time possible.