Selenium: Top 20 Interview Questions for Beginners

Selenium has four main components
Selenium IDE
Selenium WebDriver
Selenium Grid
Selenium Standalone Server

Selenium WebDriver is a programming interface that allows you to write automated tests in various programming languages such as Java, Python, C#, and Ruby
It communicates with the web browser using a browser-specific driver

Selenium IDE is a record and playback tool, while Selenium WebDriver is a programming interface that allows you to write tests in a programming language

A locator is used to find an element on a web page. There are several types of locators such as
ID
name
class name
tag name
link text
partial link text

A WebElement is an object that represents an element on a web page, such as a button, link, or text field

POM is a design pattern that separates the page objects from the test code
It helps in making the test code more readable and maintainable

A framework is a set of guidelines or best practices that helps in creating automated tests in a structured way. It includes tools, libraries, and coding standards

We can use an IDE like Eclipse, VS Code, Pycharm etc and create a project, add selenium libraries and other required tools and libraries and create an Automation Testing Framework to test web applications

There are several types of frameworks in Selenium, such as
Data-driven
Keyword-driven
Hybrid
Behavior-driven

TestNG is a testing framework that is used to write and execute automated tests in Selenium
It supports features such as parallel execution, test reporting, and test case grouping

Implicit wait is a global wait that is applied to all the elements on a web page

Explicit wait is a wait that is applied to a specific element based on a certain condition

Cross-browser testing is the process of testing a web application on multiple web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

Headless testing is the process of running automated tests without opening a web browser
It is faster and more efficient than running tests with a graphical user interface

A Test Suite is a collection of related test cases that are executed together. It helps in organizing and managing test cases

CI is a practice of integrating code changes into a shared repository on a regular basis. It helps in detecting and fixing errors early in the development cycle.

Some of the best practices for writing automated tests in Selenium include:
writing maintainable and reusable code
using explicit waits
keeping the tests simple and modular
Keeping test data and test scripts separate
Using Page Object Model design if possible
Ability to run from command line

Some of the advantages of using Selenium for test automation include:
faster and more efficient testing
less prone to human errors
repeatability
faster feedback
increased test coverage
reduced testing costs

Some of the limitations of Selenium include
No GUI, need basic knowledge of programming to work with Selenium Webdriver
limited support for desktop applications
difficulty in handling CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA

Dynamic elements are elements on a web page that change their properties dynamically. We can handle dynamic elements in Selenium by using Explicit Waits or dynamic locators such as XPath or CSS Selector

Absolute XPath starts with the root node and is the complete path to the element on the web page

Relative XPath starts from the element node and is a shorter and more flexible path to the element

It is recommended to use Relative XPath over Absolute XPath, as Absolute XPath is prone to breaking if the structure of the web page changes