Selenium WebDriver Guide

Introduction & Features

Selenium WebDriver is a browser automation framework that allows you to write automated tests for web applications. Control browsers programmatically with real user interactions.

Installation & Setup

Setup Steps

1. Add Dependency: Include Selenium WebDriver in your project
2. Browser Setup: Install target browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge)
3. Verify Setup: Run a simple test

Maven Dependencies (pom.xml)

<!-- Selenium WebDriver 4.x - That's all you need! -->
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
    <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
    <version>4.27.0</version>
</dependency>

Gradle Dependencies (build.gradle)

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.seleniumhq.selenium:selenium-java:4.27.0'
}

Your First WebDriver Test

FirstTest.java

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

public class FirstTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create WebDriver instance - Selenium Manager handles driver automatically!
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        // Navigate to URL
        driver.get("https://www.google.com");

        // Get page title
        System.out.println(driver.getTitle());

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

Locators & Finding Elements

Locator Types

Locator          | Method                  | Best For
-----------------+-------------------------+---------------------------
ID               | By.id()                 | Most reliable, fastest
Name             | By.name()               | Form elements
Class Name       | By.className()          | Single class attribute
Tag Name         | By.tagName()            | HTML tag elements
Link Text        | By.linkText()           | Exact anchor text
Partial Link     | By.partialLinkText()    | Partial anchor text
CSS Selector     | By.cssSelector()        | Fast, flexible patterns
XPath            | By.xpath()              | Complex navigation

Locator Examples

// By ID
WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("username"));

// By Name
WebElement input = driver.findElement(By.name("email"));

// By CSS Selector
WebElement button = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector(".btn-primary"));

// By XPath
WebElement link = driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[@href='/login']"));

// Find multiple elements
List<WebElement> links = driver.findElements(By.tagName("a"));

CSS Selector Patterns

// ID selector
#username

// Class selector
.btn-primary

// Attribute selector
input[type='text']

// Descendant selector
div.container button

// Child selector
ul > li

// Multiple classes
.btn.btn-large

Pro Tip

Prefer CSS selectors over XPath for better performance. Use XPath only when CSS cannot achieve the selection (like text-based or parent navigation).

Element Interactions

Interaction Examples

// Click on element
driver.findElement(By.id("submit-btn")).click();

// Type text
driver.findElement(By.name("username")).sendKeys("admin");

// Clear input field
WebElement input = driver.findElement(By.id("search"));
input.clear();

// Get text from element
String text = driver.findElement(By.className("heading")).getText();

// Check if element is visible
boolean isVisible = driver.findElement(By.id("alert")).isDisplayed();

Dropdown Handling

import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.Select;

WebElement dropdown = driver.findElement(By.id("country"));
Select select = new Select(dropdown);

// Select by visible text
select.selectByVisibleText("India");

// Select by value
select.selectByValue("in");

// Select by index
select.selectByIndex(2);

Waits & Synchronization

Implicit Wait

import java.time.Duration;

// Apply globally for all elements
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

Explicit Wait

import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.WebDriverWait;
import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.ExpectedConditions;

// Wait for specific condition
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));

// Wait for element to be clickable
WebElement element = wait.until(
    ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("submit"))
);

// Wait for visibility
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(By.id("message")));

// Wait for presence
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(By.className("alert")));

Fluent Wait

import org.openqa.selenium.support.ui.FluentWait;

Wait<WebDriver> fluentWait = new FluentWait<>(driver)
    .withTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))
    .pollingEvery(Duration.ofSeconds(2))
    .ignoring(NoSuchElementException.class);

Quick Examples

Login Automation

driver.get("https://example.com/login");
driver.findElement(By.id("username")).sendKeys("testuser");
driver.findElement(By.id("password")).sendKeys("password123");
driver.findElement(By.id("login-btn")).click();

Form Filling

// Fill text fields
driver.findElement(By.name("firstName")).sendKeys("John");
driver.findElement(By.name("lastName")).sendKeys("Doe");

// Select dropdown
Select country = new Select(driver.findElement(By.id("country")));
country.selectByVisibleText("United States");

// Check checkbox
driver.findElement(By.id("terms")).click();

Window/Tab Handling

// Get current window handle
String mainWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();

// Get all window handles
Set<String> allWindows = driver.getWindowHandles();

// Switch to new window
for (String window : allWindows) {
    if (!window.equals(mainWindow)) {
        driver.switchTo().window(window);
    }
}

// Switch back to main window
driver.switchTo().window(mainWindow);

iframe Handling

// Switch to iframe by index
driver.switchTo().frame(0);

// Switch to iframe by name/id
driver.switchTo().frame("frameName");

// Switch to iframe by WebElement
WebElement frameElement = driver.findElement(By.id("myFrame"));
driver.switchTo().frame(frameElement);

// Switch back to main content
driver.switchTo().defaultContent();

Screenshot Capture

import org.openqa.selenium.TakesScreenshot;
import org.openqa.selenium.OutputType;
import java.io.File;
import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;

// Capture screenshot
File screenshot = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE);
FileUtils.copyFile(screenshot, new File("screenshot.png"));

Next Steps

Continue Your Learning Journey

• Page Object Model (POM) - Design pattern for maintainable test automation
• TestNG Integration - Framework annotations, assertions & test configuration
• Data-Driven Testing - Parameterize tests with Excel, CSV or database
• Selenium Grid - Parallel execution across multiple browsers
• Reporting - Generate rich reports with Extent Reports or Allure
• CI/CD Integration - Automate test execution with Jenkins or GitHub Actions