Today, software testing plays a decisive role in the software development life cycle to ensure a high-quality product. This has made the organizations keen to look at the testing aspect once the product has been developed. With the growing competency in the software industry, there is pressure on organizations to deliver a high-quality product in limited time and that too with fewer resources.
The effectiveness of a product lies in its functionality, performance, security, and usability. In order to ensure that there is no flaw in the application, there is a growing need of test automation. Test automation tools cater the need to fix the bugs from applications in limited time and prove to be economical as well. Some of the tools that are commonly used include Ranorex, QTP, SoapUI, Watir, Selenium, and more.
In spite of the availability of so many tools, the challenge lies in selecting the right tool. Each tool has its own capabilities and scope, which can help organizations to decide the tool that can best suit to their requirement. Choosing a right automation tool can help organizations to achieve long-term goals ensuring quality test execution.
Out of the many tools mentioned, Selenium proves to be the best tool for website and web application testing. Selenium supports test automation through its set of diverse tools. Being an open source tool, it is being enhanced continuously with the help of programmers across the globe. The set of tools automate user interaction on different languages, including JavaScript and supports almost all browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, and IE. Some of the benefits of working with Selenium are outlined below.
Benefits
- Free Open-Source software
- Supports User and Community
- Automates applications and browsers
- Provides a software testing framework
- Supports recording of workflows
- Work on any browser
- Ensures a high-performance product
Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
Selenium IDE allows playing back and recording scripts and can be added as a Firefox add-on. This tool proves to be best for beginners who want to learn Selenium. The recorded script can be converted into other programming languages to be run on other browsers.
Selenium WebDriver
The WebDriver interface can be used to develop selenium scripts with the help of programming languages, like PHP, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and more. The test can be executed on multiple browsers, including IE, Chrome, and Firefox.
Standalone Server
The feature allows running parallel tests on mobile platforms, like Android, iOS, and iPad remotely.
No Limitations
Selenium can be used for acceptance/functional testing or within an existing project. The ability to automate regression test allows testing a new build easily. It can also be used to automate data entry, form filing, and other repetitive tasks.
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