What are Selenium components?

Selenium is a portable testing frame work developed by Jason Huggins for automated testing of the web applications. It is specifically a recording and play back tool which eliminates the user’s task of learning a test scripting language. This tool makes use of its own development language popularly known as selenese.

There are 3 major platforms for selenese namely linux, windows and macintosh.

Components of Selenium

The selenium software testing frame work is composed of certain components about which we shall discuss in this article. Following are the components:

1. Selenium IDE: This the selenium’s own integrated development environment dedicated to the creation of the selenium’s tests. This component needs to be implemented as an extension to firefox. Using this IDE, the scripts can either be automatically recorded or edited manually with the help of the IDE’s auto-completion support. It also possesses the ability to quickly move the commands around. However the scripts recorded are in selenese language. This language provides commands basically for two purposes:

a)   For retrieving data from commands to know what actions are to be performed on the web browser such as clicking, linking, selecting an option and so on.

b)   For retrieving data from the result of the actions performed by the commands.

       Its features are:

     a)   Recording and playback tool

     b)   Intelligent field selection

     c)   Autocompletion

     d)   Walk through tests

     e)   Debugging and setting break points

     f)    Saving tests in a number of formats

     g)   Selenium user extension

     h)   Automatic assertion of the page title.

2. Selenium client API: It is not necessary for the tester to develop tests in selenese  only rather he can write tests in any other programming language. The tests thus written will be communicated to selenium through the calling methods provided by selenium client API. Selenium provides this client for the following languages:

   a)   Java

   b)   C#

   c)   Python and

   d)   Ruby

3. Selenium remote control or selenium RC: This component is actually a server implemented in java which retrieves commands via HTTP for a particular browser. With this selenium component it has been made possible to write automated tests regardless of the the programming language for a web application and integrating it with the unit test frame works which already exist. Selenium project comes with client drivers for the following languages in order to make writing tests and easier task:

     a)   PHP

     b)   Python

     c)   Ruby

     d)   .net

     e)   Java and

     f)    Perl

The java driver provides support for the java script also through the rhino   engine. Nowadays a new selenium remote control server is required for launching the HTML test cases which requires for a different port for each of the parallel run. This is in contrast with the PHP and java test case since these require only one continuously running selenium remote control. The selenium B and driven selenium were re-factored by Paul Hammant to develop selenium RC. This also saw the re – implantation of the wire protocol in each of the language ports. After re-factoring, an intermediate daemon processing was done between the browser and the driving test script. As a result driving remote browsers and reducing the need of porting every code statement became possible. Thus the driven selenium was completely taken over by the selenium remote control. 

What is Selenium software testing framework?

Selenium software testing framework is portable frame work that has been developed exclusively for the development of the web applications. It actually works as a record and play back tool for the guiding of the tests without having to learn about a TSL or test scripting language. 

The selenium software testing frame work comes with its own test domain – specific language known by the name of selenese which can be used for developing tests in a no. of prominent programming languages such as the following:

1. C#
2. Java
3. Groovy
4. PHP
5. Perl
6. Python
7. Ruby etc.

The tests thus developed can be executed against a number of modern web browsers. The selenium frame work can be deployed on the following three platforms:

1. Windows
2. Linux
3. Macintosh

- Selenium is one of the best open–source software that are available to us today. 

- It was released as an OSS under the license – apache 2.0 and so you won’t be charged for downloading and using it.

- The software got its name for a joke cracked by Jason in an email in which he mocked his competitor by saying that he can cure mercury poisoning with the help of supplements from selenium. 

- The other people who received this email began using this name and eventually the software was named so. 

- The selenium grid represents the latest side project which is known to provide a hub enable execution of the multiple selenium tests on a local and remote system and that too concurrently. 

- This is being done as an effort to minimize the time taken for execution. 

- The selenium provides you with a number of robust tools which one use for the rapid development of the automated tests for testing the web based applications. 

- Plus, it also comes with a number of rich features and functions which have been exclusively for designing the web applications. 

- The operations which are carried out by the selenium framework are highly flexible in nature and allow for the location of the UI elements with supported by a number of options. 

- Also, the selenium frame work accounts for comparing the actual and the expected test results. 

- Selenium’s key feature lies in the support it provides for the execution of one test on a number of browser platforms. 

- The selenium frame work is composed of three major tools each of which plays an important and unique role in the development of the tests for web applications:

1. Selenium IDE
2. Selenium remote control
3. Selenium grid

- There are number of ways in which functionality can be added to the selenium’s frame work to further customize the tests in order to suit one’s specific needs.

- This characteristic that makes the selenium frame work outstanding among the rest. 

- The RC support from the selenium assists the test writes in multiple programming by helping them develop any logic they require for automated testing by using their preferred language. 

- On the other hand, the user can add his own defined extensions via the selenium IDE for creation of additional customized commands. 

- The selenium RC code generated by the selenium IDE can be reconfigured easily which lets the testers generate code that would fit their testing frame work. 

- Also, since the selenium is open to all, all are free to submit their contributions for its enhancement and modification.