Is Selenium tool relevant in 2022?
Selenium is a powerful name in the testing industry, often used as a synonym for automated testing. Launched in 2002, Selenium has managed to hold a strong place in the market over the last two decades and is still preferred by a majority in the industry. It is the first of its kind and has inspired the launch of many other similar tools. Selenium has reshaped the testing industry and expanded a new array of possibilities to improve software quality by significantly decreasing time, money, and effort.
Though Selenium is an industry giant and has been ruling the market for many years, it is facing higher competition due to the ever-evolving trends. The new technology in the market such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) enabled test automation solutions are giving a tough time for the Selenium tool. Amidst the changing trend in the testing industry, one of the major questions is will Selenium be relevant in 2022 and beyond?
Everything to know about Selenium
Before getting to know the relevance of Selenium in the coming years, let’s understand what makes Selenium so popular and what are its drawbacks.
Selenium is a free and open-source testing tool that is compatible with various browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. It is among one of the top test automation companies offering efficient software testing. It has evolved over the years from offering a code-based automated solution to codeless test automation.
The key features of Selenium are:
- No installation required
- Simple commands
- Compatible with multiple browsers
- Supports cross-browser testing
- Supports multiple programming languages
- Works on multiple operating systems
- Works alongside the development process
- Popularly used for unit testing, regression testing, and automated browser testing
Benefits of using Selenium
In spite of a huge number of test automation tools available today, Selenium is one of the most preferred testing tools worldwide with a loyal customer base. The numerous benefits offered by Selenium is the reason that makes it so popular. The benefits of Selenium are:
Flexible: Selenium is highly flexible in functional testing and regression testing while providing accurate results.
Free of cost: One of the key reasons for the growing popularity of Selenium is that it is a cost-effective solution, i.e.., it’s free of cost.
Cross-browser testing: Selenium supports cross-browser testing effortlessly. It helps in running the same test case multiple times across different browsers.
Supports multiple languages: One of the key benefits of using Selenium is that it offers multi-language support including Java, Python, C++, etc.
Supports different browsers: A major advantage of Selenium is that it is compatible with various browsers, helping you perform the test efficiently across any browser.
Selenium IDE: Selenium IDE is a powerful version of Selenium series that helps your record, debug, and edit the tests.
Different Versions: Even after 20 years of its launch, Selenium has still managed to make it up to the top 10 testing tools recently. One of the reasons for its charm not fading away is having different versions. Various versions help to cater to the individual requirements of the clients.
Challenges of using Selenium:
Test scalability: As Selenium can efficiently carry out cross-browser testing, it is to be noted that it performs testing in one particular order. Hence, running automation tests under such scenarios gives rise to scalability issues.
Cross-browser testing issues: With the wide range of browsers available, it becomes tedious to conduct testing to run tests on all browsers, their versions, different operating systems, and the different resolutions.
Limited to web browser testing: As the market for mobile apps is increasing, Selenium is still limited to its web browser testing. However, there are many tools in the market that can offer mobile apps testing as well as mobile web application testing.
Limited reporting option: Reporting is an important aspect of testing as it gives a detailed analysis of the testing and offers a scope to improve code design. Though there are a number of modern test automation tools that give a detailed report, Selenium still lacks reporting capabilities.
Captcha and OTP issues: As captcha and OTP are definite values and cannot be tested based on assumptions it is becoming highly tedious to handle the captcha and OTP issues. Hence, captcha verification and payment gateways testing are still a challenge for Selenium.
Is Selenium tool still relevant? What is its future?
As the awareness about test automation is increasing, organizations are looking for the right tools that can cater to their individual preferences and requirements. Non-Selenium automation tools are on the rise for the wide range of possibilities they offer. With the new trend of AI and ML incorporation to test automation, intelligent tools will slowly take over the market. However, Selenium will not vanish anytime soon; future updates and intelligent integration may allow the tool to rule the industry for many years to come.
Top 5 Selenium Alternatives to look for in 2022
With changing times, it becomes inevitable to adopt the new trends. Here are some of the top test automation tools that have given Selenium a competition by offering seamless integration options, extensive reporting, efficient cross-browser testing etc. These are the best Selenium alternatives to look for in the coming years.
Eggplant
Eggplant is an AI-integrated test automation platform that focuses on user experience as well as business metrics. It is an award-winning, licensed test automation suite that carries out application testing and graphical user interface (GUI) testing, and performs well on all platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.
Features:
- AI-driven platform
- Offers great responsiveness
- Highly scalable
- Automates critical systems
- Compatible with all browsers and operating systems
- Offers seamless integration with other tools
Tenjin
Tenjin is a popular test automation tool in the BFSI industry. Designed exclusively for the banking and financial sector, Tenjin brings in an innovative approach to cover the functional and non-functional testing aspects of the bank’s core software system. It works across diverse application types ranging from workflow, transaction, analytics, and digital, to offer a seamless customer experience.
Features:
- Codeless, auto adaptive test automation platform
- Designed to test banking/financial software
- Different versions available -Tenjin Enterprise (core banking solutions), Tenjin Connect (API level testing), Tenjin Digital (Digital applications) to suit your individual requirement
- Robotic UI engine capabilities
- End-to-end testing with coverage
- Seamless CI/CD tool integration
- Offers PSD2 open-banking ready solutions
Katalon Studio
With a simple design, object repository and browser plugin, Katalon offers efficient test automation solutions. It is an open-source, user-friendly tool with an integrated development environment (IDE).
Features:
- Intelligent approach for bug identification
- Compatible with all modern browsers, applications, web, mobile, and API
- Decompiler for debugging support
- Seamless CI/CD integration
TestComplete
TestComplete offer web and mobile app testing solutions and is a popular choice among technical and non-technical users due to is simple design and accurate results.
Features:
- Web and mobile app testing
- Seamless CI/CD solutions
- Supports all browsers and operating systems
- Allows both code-based and codeless test creation
- Supports the users’ preferred language like JavaScript, Python, etc.
- Allows AL and ML integration
- Easy and effortless testing of enterprise applications like SAP, Salesforce, Oracle E-Business Suite
- Efficient test management, issue tracking, and carrying out complete test cycle
LambdaTest
LamdaTest is your go-to for live interactions and cross-browser testing. It is compatible with all web browsers and mobile applications; performs on one’s preferred language like JavaScript, Python etc.
Features:
- Cross-browser test automation
- Works flawlessly on more than 2000 browsers and operating systems
- Seamless CI/CD integration on tools like Jenkins, Travis, etc.
- Interactive testing through VM hosted LambdaTest Cloud
- Geo-targeting, geo-blocking, geo-localization testing
In addition to the above, there are numerous test automation platforms available in the market; one can choose the tool based on their specific requirement. With so many new tools around, Selenium should come up with some powerful upgrades to sustain and succeed in the market.
