Pros and Cons of Selenium as an Automation Testing Tool

There’s no denying that automated testing is the most effective way to create high-quality software. Automation enhances test accuracy, speeds up test execution, and allows you to rerun tests. Choosing the correct automation testing tool, on the other hand, is a critical step in achieving effective test automation.

For their software testing needs, automation testing businesses employ a variety of technologies. Selenium is considered one of the first in the field of automated testing as enterprises utilize it a lot. According to iDataLabs, selenium has a market share of 30.59 percent, outperforming all other products. UFT was its closest competition, with a market share of 12%. In this article, we are exploring the pros and cons of selenium.

Reasons for Selenium Adoption – Pros

• Selenium is free. Other automation tools charge a fee to their users.
• Selenium is an open-source environment that is popular among developers since the fundamental framework may be customized as per business requirement.
• Java, C#, JavaScript, Ruby, Perl, PHP, Objective-C, Haskell, R, and Python are among the programming languages supported by Selenium.
• Selenium is compatible with a wide range of browsers, including IE, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.
• Selenium is supported by a vast online community of users. They actively participate in the documentation process. These resources can help you solve problems.
• Mobile testing is supported by Selenium. Although additional software, such as Appium or Selendroid, is required, it allows you to test native, hybrid, and web mobile apps.
• Selenium supports a large number of plugins. SauceLabs, Selenium-Grid, and Extent are just a few of the prominent tools it supports.
• It’s easy to set up. It offers a clear and user-friendly UI.
• Remote testing is supported via Selenium remote control and grid.
• Parallel testing is possible using the Selenium grid.

Reasons to switch to a Different Test Automation Solution – Cons

• The selenium test takes too long.
• Selenium offers no assistance with technical concerns. The internet community provides all assistance. For commercial assistance, consulting firms must be approached.
• Selenium has the potential to provide false-positive outcomes. A network connectivity issue, for example, might result in an error. Version releases are delayed as a result of this. Testers claim that 25% of the time they receive false positives.
• The infrastructure of Selenium is difficult to handle. The Selenium grid, for example, may provide parallel testing, but it is not cost-effective to manage because the device needs to change every project.
• The development of Selenium tests is sluggish. Maintaining tests is difficult since it necessitates knowledge of programming languages.
• Selenium does not create reports on its own. This is a significant disadvantage since testing teams prefer visual reporting like screenshots, graphs, tables, and charts. It’s difficult to get a clear picture of what’s causing the problem. Developers will have to verify the code again to detect the flaw, which will add to their workload. The only reporting provided by the tool is from third-party vendors such as TestNG, JUnit, and Allure.
• In-sprint automation is not supported by Selenium. It employs a code-based strategy. The user interface is unduly reliant on it. It’s difficult to combine with continuous testing because of this. This is a significant disadvantage of Selenium, as many automation testing platforms now provide code-less testing, allowing users without programming experience to do automated tests.

Conclusion

Selenium is one of the most well-known names in the field of testing automation. It’s an open-source platform with a large community, a lot of integrations, and a lot of power. Selenium, on the other hand, isn’t a testing miracle worker. It, like any other tool, has a set of disadvantages.

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