Introduction to Selenium WebDriver

Selenium WebDriver is the most widely used browser automation tool in the Selenium suite. It allows testers and developers to automate web applications by simulating user interactions like clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating between pages.

Why Use Selenium WebDriver?

✔ Cross-Browser Testing – Supports Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari
✔ Supports Multiple Programming Languages – Java, Python, C#, JavaScript
✔ Fast & Efficient – Directly communicates with the browser
✔ Supports Mobile Testing – Can be used with Appium for mobile automation
✔ Can Handle Dynamic Web Elements using XPath, CSS Selectors

1. Setting Up Selenium WebDriver

Before writing test scripts, you need to set up Selenium WebDriver on your system.

Step 1: Install Java & IDE

  • Install Java JDK (if not already installed)
  • Install an IDE like Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA

Step 2: Download Selenium WebDriver JARs

  • Download Selenium JARs from the official website.
  • Add them to your Java project.

Step 3: Download Browser Drivers

2. Launching a Browser with WebDriver

A simple Selenium script to open a webpage and print the title.

Example: Launch Chrome and Open Google

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class WebDriverBasics {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Set the path for ChromeDriver
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "path/to/chromedriver.exe");

        // Create WebDriver instance
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        // Open Google
        driver.get("https://www.google.com");

        // Print page title
        System.out.println("Page Title: " + driver.getTitle());

        // Close browser
        driver.quit();
    }
}

📌 Explanation:
✔ System.setProperty() – Sets the browser driver path
✔ WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(); – Launches Chrome
✔ driver.get("URL"); – Opens a webpage
✔ driver.getTitle(); – Retrieves page title
✔ driver.quit(); – Closes the browser

3. WebDriver Commands

WebDriver provides various commands to interact with the browser.

1️⃣ Navigation Commands

driver.navigate().to("https://www.google.com"); // Open a URL
driver.navigate().back(); // Navigate back
driver.navigate().forward(); // Navigate forward
driver.navigate().refresh(); // Refresh page

2️⃣ Fetching Page Information

System.out.println(driver.getTitle()); // Get page title
System.out.println(driver.getCurrentUrl()); // Get current URL
System.out.println(driver.getPageSource()); // Get HTML source of the page

3️⃣ Closing the Browser

driver.close(); // Closes the current browser window
driver.quit();  // Closes all browser windows and ends the session

4. Locating Web Elements in Selenium

To interact with elements (buttons, input fields, links), Selenium uses locators.

Locator Syntax Example
ID By.id("username") driver.findElement(By.id("username"));
Name By.name("password") driver.findElement(By.name("password"));
Class Name By.className("login-btn") driver.findElement(By.className("btn-primary"));
Tag Name By.tagName("input") driver.findElement(By.tagName("input"));
Link Text By.linkText("Login") driver.findElement(By.linkText("Login"));
Partial Link Text By.partialLinkText("Log") driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText("Log"));
CSS Selector By.cssSelector("#login") driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("#login"));
XPath By.xpath("//input[@name='username']") driver.findElement(By.xpath("//input[@name='username']"));

5. Performing Actions on Web Elements

After locating elements, we can interact with them using Selenium commands.

1️⃣ Entering Text in Input Fields

driver.findElement(By.id("username")).sendKeys("testuser");

2️⃣ Clicking a Button

driver.findElement(By.id("submit")).click();

3️⃣ Getting Text of an Element

String message = driver.findElement(By.id("welcomeMsg")).getText();
System.out.println("Message: " + message);

4️⃣ Handling Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

driver.findElement(By.id("rememberMe")).click(); // Click checkbox
boolean isSelected = driver.findElement(By.id("rememberMe")).isSelected(); // Check if selected

6. Handling Browser Alerts and Pop-ups

Handling JavaScript Alerts

driver.switchTo().alert().accept(); // Click OK
driver.switchTo().alert().dismiss(); // Click Cancel
driver.switchTo().alert().sendKeys("Test"); // Enter text

Handling Windows & Tabs

String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();
for (String window : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
    driver.switchTo().window(window);
}
// Switch back to main window
driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);

7. Handling Frames & IFrames

driver.switchTo().frame("frameName"); // Switch to frame
driver.switchTo().defaultContent(); // Exit frame

8. Waits in Selenium WebDriver

1️⃣ Implicit Wait (Global Wait)

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

2️⃣ Explicit Wait (Specific Element)

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.id("submit")));

9. Running WebDriver in Headless Mode

Run Selenium without opening a browser window.

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.addArguments("--headless");
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

10. Best Practices for WebDriver

✅ Use Explicit Waits instead of Thread.sleep()
✅ Avoid Hardcoded Paths (Use System.getProperty("user.dir"))
✅ Use Page Object Model (POM) for better maintainability
✅ Run tests in Parallel using Selenium Grid
✅ Handle Dynamic Elements with XPath & CSS Selectors

Conclusion

Selenium WebDriver is a powerful tool for web automation. In this guide, we covered: ✔ Setting up WebDriver
✔ Launching Browsers & Navigating Pages
✔ Locating & Interacting with Elements
✔ Handling Alerts, Frames, and Windows
✔ Implementing Waits for Stable Tests