Selenium is a popular free and open-source platform that allows developers to define web applications and automate tests. It is mainly used to automate web applications for testing purposes, although it can do much more.
Using the Selenium testing method has become increasingly popular as the web gets more complicated. While Selenium makes it easy to test a website or web app, there are a fair number of Selenium automation challenges that developers face while using the system.
Since people are curious to know what are the challenges faced in Selenium testing, we have compiled information regarding the subject. So, let us look at the few common challenges faced in Selenium automation testing and probable solution.
Unable to Test Mobile Apps
We can test Selenium on any desktop browser and OS, but we cannot deal with Selenium alone in mobile testing. There is an easy solution to this. You can use Appium using the WebDriver protocol to manage native, mobile, and hybrid Android and iOS applications.
Pop-up Windows
It can be the most formidable challenge to automate a test via Selenium or accept or close whenever a prompt, fast, or verification alert pops-up. Moreover, because they are part of the OS instead of the browser, Windows-based alerts are beyond Selenium’s capabilities.
Selenium WebDriver can run different windows; the switch of technique can typically handle web-based warnings to manage the pop-up while keeping the browser in the background.
Inadequate Transparency
Few businesses do not obey proper code reviews, which in the future could cause many problems. Code analysis involves the formatting of code, proper validation or statement, successful use of the framework, the pattern of design used, etc. And Selenium is not very good at it.
Checking Cross Browsers
We always concentrate on one browser when developing the script and only build our script for that browser, but for the script’s actual execution, we must ensure that our script runs in all the browsers known as ‘cross browser’ testing with a tool like AccelQ.
To avoid failure once it creates the script, we need to run them on different browsers and analyze the outcome. If another browser fails, then we need to change the locator policy.
Scalability Issue
Though Selenium WebDriver allows you to test on almost any browser or OS, they still limit it to how many tests it can run immediately and how quickly it can run them depending on the tester’s number of hub/node configurations.
You may test equivalently with a Selenium grid and a third-party cloud tool like AccelQ. This means that it will decrease the time it takes to conduct automated tests and increase the test configurations.
Unable to Automate Dynamically
It is a known fact that it is impossible to automate all test scenarios at Selenium since specific experiments will require manual intervention. The amount of time that your team can expend on automation testing over manual testing must be prioritized.
Enhancement & Preservation of System
Testers still use the system, but the framework’s design and maintenance are not very remarkable. There is still a need to add new functionality or libraries to reduce execution time and maintenance tasks.
Conclusion
Automation in the web application development process helps save manual work hours and reduce errors in the implementation process. Selenium is one of the most popular platforms for automated responsive design testing.
Although Selenium’s feature list is remarkable, a developer will still face difficulties and limitations throughout developing automated tests. The challenges faced in Selenium testing can be tricky.
However, knowing the benefits of automated testing, we are confident that the world of technology will gain more advancements.
