For any web application, browser automation and cross-browser testing are two critical testing activities to ensure that the software works on various browsers/devices/platforms. Selenium[2] is a popular web automation tool that helps achieve that. It’s one of the most widely used and popular tools used in automation testing.
Advantages of Selenium:
- Open Source: It’s developed in open and has excellent community support. The software is updated regularly, ensuring significant problems and bugs are fixed, and new features are getting added constantly.
- Cross-Browser: Selenium allows you to run and test your web application in multiple browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.
- Cross-platform: You can use Selenium on Windows, Mac OS, or Linus. This allows testing the platform compatibility of your web application.
- Language Agnostic: You can use Selenium in your favorite programming languages, such as Java, C#, Python, Ruby, and many more.
Disadvantages of Selenium:
- Learning Curve: One of the most common and recurring problems mentioned by new testers is that Selenium is complicated and takes a long time to learn. It requires prior programming knowledge.
- No support for desktop/mobile: Selenium only supports web applications. You cannot use it to test your desktop and mobile applications.
- No reliable tech support: As it’s open-source software, there’s no dedicated tech support that you can use in case you run into problems.
- Complicated debugging: It’s tougher to debug Selenium programs than the other tools and frameworks.
