As technology constantly changes at an unmatched rate, the need for experienced and trustworthy software testing frameworks grows. A pace-setter in this domain, Selenium Automation Testing has been a recommended option for various quality assurance teams and developers worldwide due to its adaptability, budget-friendliness, and suitability with various browsers and operating systems.
The year 2023 guarantees new trends that could rearrange the way Selenium testing is performed. let’s explore the top five Selenium testing trends that can shape 2023.
What Is Selenium Testing?
Selenium Testing refers to the utilization of Selenium, a widely recognized open-source framework for automating tests, specifically used for web applications or websites across various browsers and operating systems. Its utility is spotlighted by its suitability with countless programming languages such as JavaScript, Java, Python, and C#, among others. This means that investigators can operate any programming language they’re skillful in to automate their testing of websites.
The Selenium framework improves the testing process by rapidly fulfilling test cycles through the automation of repetitive test cases. Furthermore, when embraced into a continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline, it provides the creation of a solid and bug-free release deployment procedure.
5 Biggest Selenium Trends For 2023
Now, as we are moving into the second half of 2023, it is relevant to look at the approaching trends of testing. In this context, let’s take a closer look at the five Selenium testing trends that have taken center stage this year.
1. Scriptless Automation Testing
Scriptless Automation Testing equips both testers and developers with an efficient interface to build automation suites without the need for script writing. With this approach, test case automation can be carried out using tools without the necessity of code. These tools document the actions of the tester while they navigate through the software, subsequently generating a variety of tests needed for different features.
Developers have the freedom to use diverse testing tools that come with specialized features for UI testing, end-to-end testing, and more. Depending on the testing frameworks, these tools provide ample flexibility and the ability to generate reusable test cases.
The advantages of Scriptless Automation Testing are numerous:
- It can significantly lower the cost of automation, resulting in a positive return on investment.
- The setup requires minimal effort, making it easy to get started.
- It offers the opportunity to reuse test cases across different scenarios.
- It aids in expediting the delivery of quality products.
Some notable examples of Scriptless Testing tools include Selenium IDE and TOSCA. Selenium IDE is a freely available tool for Test Automation that functions through a record and playback mechanism. It’s utilized as a plugin for Chrome or Firefox browsers and supports cross-browser execution using Command-line Runner for Selenium IDE. One of its standout features is its ability to document multiple locators for each element with which it interacts, enabling the creation of reusable test cases in Selenium IDE.
Key Features include:
- It includes support for control flow structures such as ‘if’, ‘while’, and ‘times’.
- It can be extended through plugins.
- It allows the creation of a test suite.
- Customization of the test script is permitted.
2. Headless Browser Testing
A headless browser, as indicated by its name, is a web browser that operates without a user interface. Essentially, a headless browser functions like any conventional browser, the only difference being the absence of a visible display. The program runs in the background, with its operations trackable via a Console or command-line interface, hence its name, a browser devoid of a Head/GUI.
In headless browser testing, comprehensive tests are conducted without the need for the browser to load the application’s user interface. As a result, the tests directly interact with the webpage, reducing the chance of instability and increasing the speed of the process. This not only makes testing more reliable, swifter, and efficient, but it also enhances effectiveness. The adoption of headless browser testing, combined with “shift-left” design thinking, advances the integration of Quality Assurance (QA) into the software delivery process, creating a practice often referred to as “QAOps.”
Key advantages of Selenium Headless Testing include:
- It is faster than traditional browser testing as it uses fewer system resources.
- It enhances test execution performance, typically executing at twice the speed of conventional browser testing.
- It’s ideal for web scraping. When there’s a need to gather substantial data from a webpage (like sports data, stock data, etc.) and store it in a database or Excel through Selenium automation.
- It enables the simulation of multiple browsers on a single system without overloading resources.
- It’s well-suited for parallel testing.
Despite the various benefits, there are a few limitations to Selenium Headless Testing:
- Live Debugging is not possible, as you cannot see what’s happening when a test runs in headless mode.
- If visual observation of tests is required for reporting issues to the developer through the webpage UI, using headless testing is not a recommended choice.
Note: HTMLUnit, PhantomJS, Ghost, and ZombieJS are among the popular headless drivers.
3. Automated Regression Testing
Automated regression testing is a technique that guarantees that recent changes in the code don’t compromise or break existing functionalities. It serves as a safety net for identifying regression bugs, contributing to time savings, and enabling the delivery of efficient solutions with improved scalability and speed. The major benefits of automated regression testing include a high return on investment and effective bug detection. Tools that facilitate automated regression testing encompass Selenium, TimeShiftX, IBM Rational Functional Tester, SilkTest, TestComplete, and Ranorex, among others.
The effectiveness of automation largely hinges on the framework you opt for, as there are no tools exclusively designed for regression testing. Your chosen automation framework should be architectured in a way that supports regression testing efficiently. You can build a regression suite for automation and continue to add new test scripts or test cases as necessary. The Selenium Framework features numerous reusable modules or functions, making it easy to maintain the existing code or integrate new code.
Selenium can be integrated with Test Driven Development (TDD) frameworks like TestNG, Junit Maven, etc. TestNG annotations aid in crafting effective automation scripts. Moreover, the Page Object Model (POM) design pattern can be utilized when constructing an automation framework.
The Page Object Model is a design pattern that simplifies code maintenance, reduces complexity and enhances code reusability. In the POM organization, every web page of the system has an analogous class. These page classes carry page objects and their related techniques, which interrelate with the browser.
Moreover, there are devoted Test classes where you can write your test cases using TestNG or Junit. You can also include declaration and confirmation in your Test classes. The disconnection of verifications from page operations in page classes furnishes the POM more comprehensible and elementary.
4. Advancements In Selenium 4
In October 2021, Selenium introduced its much-predicted fourth major replication. For the last five years, Selenium 3 has been pervasive in the market, and the technology accomplished significant alteration during this period. Selenium 4 brags several attribute updates such as improved Docker support, parent frame recognition, and finer-structured operations for Selenium Grid access, among others.
Selenium 4 presents characteristics like support for relative locators, enhanced management of windows and tabs in web browsers, and a native Chromium driver specially planned for the Microsoft Edge browser. This latest version of Selenium has gained widespread applause and affirmation as an updated successor to its former versions. Hence, it is composed to be one of the important trends in test automation to keep an eye on in 2023.
5. Self-Healing Test Automation
Self-healing test automation is a technique that addresses critical problems that arise due to modifications to the characteristics of an object. Multiple methods exist for a program to pinpoint web elements, which include utilizing Name, ID, XPath, and CSS elements. When these elements get altered or disrupted, test scripts can fail, causing the entire test case to fall apart.
The concept of self-healing enables teams to implement a Shift Left strategy within Agile methodologies. This not only enhances the efficiency of the testing process but also bolsters productivity and hastens delivery. In Selenium, self-healing is made possible by Helenium.
Healenium is an open-source extension to the testing framework that boosts the steadiness of Selenium-based test cases by managing updated web and mobile components. Given that web and mobile applications undergo constant updates every sprint, locator changes are not uncommon. Healenium employs a variety of machine-learning algorithms to scrutinize the current state of a page for alterations, handles NoSuchElement test failures, and amends broken tests in real time by swapping out the failed locator with a new value that provides the best match and successfully interacts with the new element.
Post the execution of the test, Healenium offers comprehensive reporting that includes the corrected locators and screenshots. Furthermore, it offers advanced features such as parallel test runs, remote test runs, iFrames, actions, and integration with Selenide. These capabilities significantly lower the effort required to develop reliable Selenium tests and decrease the incidence of test case failures due to non-product-related issues. It also shifts the focus towards regression testing rather than test maintenance.
The Future of Software Testing
Software development and delivery cycles are accelerating, increasing the demand for effective, efficient, and scalable testing solutions. Selenium, an open-source tool, has been a popular choice for automating web application tests. But the future of software testing isn’t just about automation—it’s about accessibility testing, continuous testing, cloud-based testing, and much more. This is where LambdaTest comes in.
LambdaTest is a digital experience testing platform that offers 3000+ environments including real device cloud for your Selenium test automation. It manipulates advanced technology to assemble for the future of software testing in various key ways:
- Test Execution Expedition
- Local Testing
- Accessibility Testing
- Advanced Debugging Capabilities
- Extensible Cloud-Based Infrastructure
- Continuous Testing
- 24/7 Support
- Collaborative Environment
As the future of software testing is evolving, LambdaTest is also adding more advanced features and integrations, ultimately ensuring users always have the right tools to make their application a bug-free experience. All in all, they are ensuring that you can enjoy the future of Selenium testing with LambdaTest.
Closing Remarks
At last, this is not going to be wrong saying that the kingdom of Selenium testing is all set for a transformative journey in 2023. The above-shared trends are not just changing the approaches in which we are conducting Selenium testing today, but they are also transforming the whole software development cycle.
As these Selenium trends are going to progress, the role of a Selenium tester will get transformed too, requiring a completely new set of skills and adaptability. So, this showcases that Selenium testing is going to remain at the forefront for 2023 and the coming years, ensuring the quality and functionality of web applications and ultimately leading the way for the software testing industry.