10 Best Practices for Selenium JavaScript in 2023

10 Best Practices for Selenium JavaScript in 2023

Application testing is one of the most critical processes that can help the developers not only improve the stability of the application but also increase the overall quality. This is because, with the help of the testing process, the developers can remove all unexpected errors from the app and ensure that it acts and performs as intended. Proper app testing processes also help app development companies quickly forward the application to the production phase and reduce the overall development cycle.

Currently, two of the most popular frameworks for app testing processes are Selenium Testing and JavaScript testing. The developers can also integrate both of these tools to further improve the efficiency of their application development test bench.

We will justify some of the best practices that can help the developers to improve the efficiency of the Selenium-based JavaScript test cases. We will also take a look at some of the best tools and platforms which can help the developers during this process. Let us begin our discussion with the basics of Selenium, JavaScript, and test automation as a whole.

The Core of JavaScript Frameworks and Test Automation

JavaScript Testing frameworks are the most popular options to verify the functioning of not only the front-end elements of a web application but also its back-end elements. It is very important to understand that JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages that are currently available in the market. It has managed to maintain its position in this market for over 20 years now.

This presence also ensures that it receives native support from all the popular testing frameworks, plugins, and platforms in the current industry. With the help of this feature, the application developers and testers can create a native ecosystem while working with this programming language.

To understand the proper implementation of JavaScript testing and Selenium Testing, the application developers need to have a basic idea about test automation. In simple terms, it is the process of eliminating human developers in the application testing process. For the replacement, the system will use a test file consisting of all the important parameters and data that will help it to interact with the app like a normal user system.

Based on these interactions, the system can generate a detailed report portraying the usefulness and stability of the application. The developers can study this report and understand whether the app is ready to be released to the open world. It is also possible for app developers to customize their test cases to make the results accurate depending on the app development project.

The app developers can also store and reuse huge sections of the automation test code in future app development projects. Therefore it helps to save a lot of time and expenses in the testing cycle. However, there is a massive disadvantage to using automation testing. This is because the developers have to invest a lot of money in the initial stages.

These expenses will cover the integration of various plugins, libraries, and tools that are critical for the proper implementation of automation testing practices. Therefore we recommend that app developers have a proper idea about their returns on investment and business policies before making the transition.

Selenium Test Suite

In simple terms, we can define Selenium as one of the most famous open-source automation test suites in the modern market. With this test suite, the developers can easily verify the proper functioning of modern web applications. Since it is a test suite, it consists of different tools that assist the developers at different stages of the application development.

Since its initial introduction in 2004, Selenium has gone through substantial updates that have massively improved the simplicity and dependability of all its components. This popular test suite was initially called JavaScriptTestRunner due to its dependability on this well-known programming language. Let us take a brief look at all the tools present in this suit:

The Selenium WebDriver is the most important tool present in this suit as it helps the developers to initiate and redirect the test cases to the target elements of the web application. This tool is also known as the upgraded version of the previously present remote controller as it can natively interact with all the elements in the web application.

The Selenium Grid helps app developers to initiate the test cases in a parallel configuration. With this configuration, the developers can run different test instances on multiple machines at the same time.

The Selenium client API helps the developers to write their test cases in their preferred languages like Ruby, Python, and JavaScript. After this process, the developers can easily import the test cases into the native environment of Selenium.

Finally, the Selenium IDE or the Selenium integrated development environment helps the app developers interactively write the test cases in real time. It can analyze user interactions and create test cases based on these interactions. Due to this process, this tool is capable of creating highly accurate test cases.

Best Practices for Selenium JavaScript Testing

Various practices can help app developers to utilize the full potential of Selenium JavaScript testing. Based on our research and understanding, we have created a list of the most important practices. They are as follows:

• The app developers need to use the latest version of Selenium and JavaScript bindings. This is because while using the newest version, the developers can ensure the stability of not only the test bench but also the applications that are undergoing the development process.

• Developers need to replace XPath with CSS selectors. This is because the CSS selectors are much more accurate and faster compared to XPath.

• The developers need to introduce explicit waits for ensuring that there is no error in the application testing process due to timing issues. Some of the common errors that can arise due to this issue include false positives and false negatives.

• The developers can use test objects to ensure that all the test cases are organized and maintainable. Test objects also help the developers to keep track of all the test cases when they're working on complex applications consisting of thousands of different elements.

• The developers can use test management frameworks like Jest and Mocha. With these frameworks, the developers can keep track of all the processes that are currently undergoing in the application development lifecycle. These frameworks also help the developers to create close coordination between all the teams in the company.

• Developers can use headless browsers like Firefox and Chrome. With these browsers, the developers can run the test cases in a virtual environment and reduce the test execution time.

• The developers can create isolated testing environments that can make it very easy to share. The easiest process for creating such an environment is the use of docker files. Docker files also make it easy to deploy the test cases and start the test execution process.

• App developers need to introduce automation testing in JavaScript test cases. For the quick implementation of this process, the developers can use continuous integration tools like Jenkins.

• The app developers need to have a definite idea about the performance of the application.  In this process, it is very important to understand and find the bottlenecks that might be limiting the app execution process. JMeter is one of the most popular performance monitoring tools that are currently available in the market. It produces a detailed report about the performance of a web application.

• Code analysis tools have a massive role in the proper execution of Selenium JavaScript test cases. This is because, with the help of code analysis tools like ESLint, developers can ensure that their codes are accurate and meet modern testing standards. 

Integrating Tools and Platforms in Selenium Testing

Multiple platforms can help developers to simplify the Selenium-based JavaScript testing process. Moreover, these platforms also help the developers to automatically create test cases. Moreover, various platforms and tools can help developers massively improve the testing experience with the help of attractive features. For example, we can consider cloud platforms that help the developers to eliminate the expense and hassle of having an onsite device testing lab.

This is because while working with these platforms, the developers can achieve similar test results while conducting the test cases over the Internet. With these platforms, the developers can also remove location barriers in the test cycle. Moreover, these platforms are very easily available in the market and do not require any complex resourcing process. 

We can improve our knowledge of cloud platforms and their influence on modern testing by moving our focus toward LambdaTest as our reference point:

For the initial introduction, we can say that LambdaTest is a modern and secure automation testing platform that helps developers to run cross-browser testing on complex web apps. Cross-browser testing is a new standard of ensuring that you provide the best end-user experience to your customers. This is because, with these test cases, the developers can ensure the stability of the application irrespective of the customer’s change in the browser version, operating system, or complete device specifications.

This platform also uses modern features like parallel test execution to improve the efficiency of the test cases by almost fifteen times. LambdaTest can not only execute Selenium test cases but also import them from other popular options like Playwright and Cypress. While working with Selenium test cases, the developers can run them on more than three thousand different browsers at the same time.

This platform is also suited for testing the functioning of locally hosted web pages that are used for the company’s internal operations. Finally, the inclusion of real devices with existing thousands of emulation and simulation software ensures the accuracy and dependability of the test cases.

The Conclusion

The primary intention of this article was to spread the required awareness regarding the proper execution of Selenium-based automation test cases. We discussed some of the best practices that can help the developers to utilize the full potential of their test bench. Moreover, we are slowly moving towards the app development market completely dominated by automation testing trends.

So it is very important for not only the app developers but also the companies to get themselves accustomed to this modern testing trend. The app developer should also try everything in their power to keep themselves updated regarding all the new additions and innovations in this segment. Finally, it is very important to realize the role of an accurate tool in the execution of modern application test cases.