Test Automation Frameworks: Scenarios You Should Never Automate with Selenium Testing
Selenium has proved to be a highly efficient test automation tool for testing web applications and organizations have been greatly benefitted from it through its strategic implementation. There are test scenarios in selenium where automation plays a pivotal role. However, according to experts selenium is not recommended (depends on the project scope) to test all of the test scenarios partly because of certain limitations that selenium comes with.
In this article, you will get to know about a few testing scenarios that should never be automated with selenium testing.
Following are the five scenarios that should never be automated with selenium:
1. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Push messages, OTPs, etc., are generated by applications by using an authenticator and then sending OTP by Email or SMS. It becomes quite a challenge to integrate it with Selenium WebDriver. Another layer that is not secure is added up. OTP submission is not automated by organizations, but, the following factors can be implemented:
· Specific user credentials that are used for running automated tests should be disabled by 2FA
· 2FA should be disabled in the test environment while the tests are still being run
· 2FA should be disabled when specific IPs is used for logging in.
In this manner, tests can be written on a chosen test machine. From a pool of machines, if a random test machine is chosen then the cases do not apply.
2. Performance testing: Another test scenario is performance testing that cannot be automated with selenium. Real time scenarios can be created by Selenium WebDriver for performance test execution, but, still, it doesn’t yield favourable results. WebDriver tests are subjected to intrinsic and extrinsic fragility points like instrumentation penalty of WebDriver implementation, CSS third-party servers, the response of JavaScript, HTTP server speed, browser start-up speed etc.
3. Link spidering: Application crawling or link spidering saves cost and time by finding out the broken links. In order to crawl through links, Selenium webdriver is not a recommended tool because to crawl, it takes more than a minute based on how the tests are written. Broken links can be found by selenium webdriver, when the page has only a few links. For this purpose, link spidering tools can be used. There are simple tools such as brokenlinkcheck.com etc. that can be used for checking broken links.
4. CAPTCHA: On most websites, a CAPTCHA verification can be seen to verify whether the user is a human or a bot. Automation is prevented by CAPTCHA, otherwise, what it is intended to do will eventually not happen as it will fail to perform. CAPTCHA verification cannot be used by Selenium. Following are a few points that help in preventing CAPTCHA to automate with selenium:
· A hook can be added, which can allow a test that can divert the CAPTCHA
· By simple configuration in the software that is being tested, disable CAPTCHA in the test environment
· CAPTCHA can be made an option in the test environment so that the test can run smoothly, even if the CAPTCHA is being skipped.
5. Visual testing: Screenshot testing or visual automated testing focuses on checking whether the GUI is looking as intended by the end-user. Screenshots of the web elements and the full page can be captured by Selenium. How the page looks needs to be checked on different devices and with different resolutions. Instead of selenium, it is way better to go for a visual testing tool. Capturing screenshots is one thing, but, a visual comparison of images that needs to be performed is an entirely different process and cannot be handled by Selenium.
Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing selenium testing for your specific organization, then do get connected with a premium software testing services company that will provide professional consultation and support on developing a crystal-clear selenium testing strategy.
About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.