Selenium with Java Tutorial

Selenium with Java is a tool for automating web application testing across different browsers and platforms. It helps testers build reliable, maintainable and scalable test automation suites.

Key Features

• Platform-independent and supports cross-browser testing.
• Strong community support with wide adoption in the industry.
• Start with Selenium WebDriver setup and basic navigation.
• Learn to handle dynamic elements, waits and form submissions.
• Use TestNG for structured, real-world test automation frameworks.

How Does Selenium Work

Selenium WebDrive works by acting as a bridge between your test scripts and the web browser, sending commands and receiving responses to automate actions.

• User Code: Automation scripts define actions for web elements.
• Selenium Client Library: Acts as a bridge between user code and WebDriver.
• WebDriver API: Provides standard commands for browser automation.
• Browser Driver: Each browser (ChromeDriver, GeckoDriver, etc.) communicates with WebDriver.
• Browser: Executes the commands (clicks, typing, navigation) sent by WebDriver.

Why Select Selenium with Java

Below, we have mentioned the reasons to choose Selenium with Java for testing the application.

• Versatility: Java is widely used for web automation and has plenty of libraries for Selenium.
• Compatibility and Stability: Works seamlessly with Selenium WebDriver for smooth automation.
• Easy to Learn: Clear syntax makes it perfect for beginners and experienced testers alike.
• Large Community: Large developer and tester community to help with tips, tutorials and troubleshooting.

Steps to Configure Java Environment

Step 1. Install JDK

Firstly, configure the Java Development Kit on your system.

Step 2. Install IDE – Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA or NetBeans.

Now, install an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) such as Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA or NetBeans.

Step 3. Download Selenium WebDriver

Install the Selenium WebDriver library for Java. And Extract the ZIP and add JARs to your project.

Step 4. Install Browser Driver

We need web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari. A ChromeDriver executable file that matches your Chrome version. Extract the zip file and copy the path where the chromedriver.exe file is, it is required in further steps. (e.g. - D:/chromedriver_win32/chromedriver.exe)

Create a Selenium with Java Project in Eclipse

Step 1: Launch Eclipse and select File -> New -> Java Project.

Step 2: Enter a name for your project (e.g., SeleniumJavaTutorial) and click Finish.

Step 3: Right-click on your project in Package Explorer and select Properties.

Step 4: Select Java Build Path from the left panel click on the libraries tab and then select Classpath. Click on Add External JARs and browse to the location where you downloaded the Selenium WebDriver library (e.g., selenium-java-4.1.0.zip).

Step 5: Select all the JAR files inside the zip file and click Open and also all the files inside the lib folder. (D:\selenium-java-4.11.0, D:\selenium-java-4.11.0\lib).

Step 6: Click Apply and Close to save the changes.

Step 7: Create a new package under your project by right-clicking on the src folder and selecting New -> Package.

Step 8: Add the name of your package (e.g., WebDriver)

Step 9: Create a new class under your package (e.g., WebDriver) by right-clicking on the package and selecting New -> Class, then Enter a name for your class and click Finish.

Step 10: After all the steps your file structure looks like this.

Steps for Writing Code

Step 1: Import the required packages at the top of your class:

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

After importing if still getting errors in import just delete the module-info.java file.

Step 2: Create a main class inside the Web class.

public class Web {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
    }
}

Step 3: Set the system property for ChromeDriver (path to chromedriver executable). (e.g., D:/chromedriver_win32/chromedriver.exe)

System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "D:/chromedriver_win32/chromedriver.exe");

Step 4: Create an instance of ChromeDriver.

 WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

Step 5: Navigate to the desired website.

driver.get("http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/");

Step 6: Get and print the page title.

 String pageTitle = driver.getTitle();
 System.out.println("Page Title: " + pageTitle);

Step 7: Wait for a few seconds.

try {
            Thread.sleep(3000);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

Step 8: Close the browser.

driver. Quit();

Below is the Java program to implement the above approach:

package WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class Web {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Set the system property for ChromeDriver (path to chromedriver executable)
        System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "D:/chromedriver_win32/chromedriver.exe");

        // Create an instance of ChromeDriver (launch the Chrome browser)
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

        try {
            // Navigate to the desired website (GeeksforGeeks in this example)
            driver.get("http://www.geeksforgeeks.org/");

            // Get and print the page title
            String pageTitle = driver.getTitle();
            System.out.println("Page Title: " + pageTitle);

            // Wait for a few seconds (for demonstration purposes only)
            Thread.sleep(3000);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } finally {
            // Close the browser
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

Output:

Handling Alerts, Frames and Windows

1. Alerts

• Alerts are pop-up messages in web applications.
• Selenium provides Alert interface to handle them:

import org.openqa.selenium.Alert;

// Switch to alert
Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert();
alert.accept();   // Click OK
alert.dismiss();  // Click Cancel
alert.getText();  // Get alert text

2. Frames

• Frames embed one HTML document inside another.
• Use switchTo().frame() to interact with elements inside frames:

driver.switchTo().frame("frameName"); // By name/id
driver.switchTo().frame(0);           // By index
driver.switchTo().defaultContent();   // Back to main page

3. Multiple Windows / Tabs

• Selenium can switch between browser windows/tabs using windowHandles:

String parentWindow = driver.getWindowHandle();
for (String handle : driver.getWindowHandles()) {
    driver.switchTo().window(handle);
}
// Switch back to parent window
driver.switchTo().window(parentWindow);