Nikolay Advolodkin

1. Running Selenium tests locally enables quick debugging, while remote execution on cloud services like Sauce Labs expands test coverage with various browsers and OS combinations. 2. Parallel testing through Selenium Grid or cloud services reduces execution time and enhances efficiency, allowing simultaneous tests across multiple browsers and platforms. 3. Cloud-based testing provides scalable infrastructure, crucial for Agile and DevOps environments, and adapts to fluctuating test demands without the need for personal test environment maintenance.

"You also need to download the browser drivers for the browsers you want to test, such as ChromeDriver, GeckoDriver, or EdgeDriver. You can store them in a specific folder and configure your system path to access them." This is no longer true. Selenium now comes with WebDriver Manager, which automatically downloads and manages the drivers for you. All you need to do is install the latest Selenium WebDriver, which will automatically download the drivers. https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/selenium_manager/

There is a critical step 0 missing here! Assess Suitability and Goals: Determine if Selenium is the right fit for your project. It's excellent for automating web browsers, particularly for regression and functional testing. Please check if your testing requirements align with it. Define clear objectives for using Selenium, like reducing manual testing time, increasing test coverage, or improving test accuracy. Skill Set Evaluation and Training: Ensure your team has or can develop the necessary programming skills, as Selenium requires coding in languages like Java, C#, or Python. Plan for training or hiring to bridge skill gaps. Automated testing is a serious commitment.

Follow automation patterns and anti-patterns established in this blog post https://ultimateqa.com/automation-patterns-antipatterns/

Hmmm, seems like a weird goal. Why would we want a language-anostic test code? Does this mean that we need to have language-agnostic unit and integration tests? That seems extremely unlikely and unproductive. Rather than making it language agnostic, do white box testing and don't have too many UI tests. Then the only time that our tests will need to change are when we need to refactor our application to a new tech stack. If we pick our tech stack more carefully this won't happen often.

Automated software testing should be part of a larger test strategy. Furthermore, solely automated UI testing with Selenium is plain wrong and will lead to a failure in the automation project. Focus on finding large risks in the application and critical areas for the business to function. Start there. Find a balance of different types of tests. Collaborate and communicate.