How long will it take to learn the Selenium tool?

Selenium is a software used for software testing and is a free (open source) automated the testing tool, a combination of tool and a domain-specific language (DSL). Focused on automating web-based applications. To complete selenium successfully, require some programming language like Java, C#, Python, C, Perl, etc. (no need to learn all languages, only one require)

Selenium has grown tremendously and has become one of the most integral parts of various businesses. When it comes to web testing tools, Selenium has surely become one of the best in the industry to help you with automation testing services.

Selenium is having a wider scope in the future as tools are emerging to make and supports Linux, Windows, and OSX. The job opportunities in selenium testing will be available at all times for skilled and training professionals.

The rise in web components with the blocking of APIs by Mozilla, Chrome, and Edge has literally enhanced the use of testing tools. Being the poster boy, the use of Selenium has seen around 300% growth in terms of the job posting in the last 3 years.

As the number of companies has started to use web applications the need for Selenium is shooting up. You will find a number of vendor tool providers are making use of Selenium technology which can help with web application testing. Selenium has experienced good growth in a short period of time and this has boosted the market for test automation.

The clients will be able to receive ROI quicker as the testing cycles get lesser with the use of Selenium. So, as automation test experts, one must have a complete understanding of the domain on the specific application they are working upon. Below mentioned are some of the popular job roles you can consider to work as a Selenium WebDriver professional, take a look:

·        Automation Test Lead

·        Senior Test Engineer

·        Quality Engineer

·        Selenium Automation Analyst

·        QA Engineer

The most interesting part is the industry has experienced a humongous surge in creating job opportunities with very exciting packages. So, you must take the assistance of experts and get yourself qualified enough to make the best of the respective opportunities.

In the present scenario of the IT industry, Selenium is the perfect option for automated website testing. It is being popular with its use rising at a rapid pace as time goes on. It is the first preferred choice of automation testers as well as companies for automating the web-based application testing for both GUI as well as the functionality.

If you are interested in learning Selenium Automation Testing then I would recommend you to enrol in Technogeeks training program by working IT professionals with hands-on projects to get best practice for it.

What are the different types of locators in Selenium?

Locator is a command that tells Selenium IDE which GUI elements (say Text Box, Buttons, Check Boxes etc) it needs to operate on.  Identification of correct GUI elements is a prerequisite to creating an automation script.

There are various types of locators, using which we can identify a web element uniquely on the Webpage. The following figure shows a good depiction of several types of locators that Selenium supports.

Here are the locators included in Selenium: -

Id: This is the most common way of locating elements since ID's are supposed to be unique for each element. It is similar to a class, we can also identify elements by using the ‘id’ attribute. Target Format: id=id of the element.

Name: Name attribute can also identify an element. Locating elements by name are very similar to locating by ID, except that we use the "name=" prefix instead. Target Format: name=name of the element.

Link: Text used in hyperlinks can also locate elements. In other words, this type of locator applies only to hyperlink texts. We access the link by prefixing our target with "link=" and then followed by the hyperlink text. Target Format: link=link_text

DOM: The Document Object Model (DOM), in simple terms, is the way by which HTML elements are structured. Selenium IDE is able to use the DOM in accessing page elements. If we use this method, our Target box will always start with "dom=document..."; however, the "dom=" the prefix is normally removed because Selenium IDE is able to automatically interpret anything that starts with the keyword "document" to be a path within the DOM anyway.

XPath: Xpath is the language used to query the XML document. The same can uniquely identify the web element on any page. Since HTML can be thought of as an implementation of XML, we can also use XPath in locating HTML elements.

CSS: CSS is used to create style rules for webpages and can be used to identify any web element. CSS Selectors are string patterns used to identify an element based on a combination of HTML tag, id, class, and attributes. Locating by CSS Selector is more complicated than the previous methods, but it is the most common locating strategy of advanced Selenium users because it can access even those elements that have no ID or name.

If you are looking for hands-on training with projects then I would recommend you to enrol in Technogeeks Selenium Automation Testing program under a working IT professional.

What is the best available certification on Selenium?

There are no such official certifications in Selenium which can be pursued to portray your skill because it is an open-source community. But yes, there are various Selenium Certification is available in the market. But only the right certification will lead to a great career path. Even if you are looking for any certification then you can go for ISTQB.

Full form of ISTQB is "International Software Testing Qualifications Board." It offers internationally recognized certifications called "ISTQB Certified Tester."

But here is a few pointers which might assist you in your decision:

·        Foremost nothing beats experience. No certification can provide the exposure and the training you get while working on real-time projects.

·        If you are a fresher, or are from a non-technical background and trying to get a job in the software industry, certification will help. Just think about it, as an employer, I do not have any other parameters to judge your technical calibre, so certification is a good start point.

·        If you are an experienced professional and looking for a job change, a certification will embellish your resume. More so, no matter how rich your experience may be, there will always be some new area of QA that you will learn while studying for the certification. But do not think that you will get a job just based on the certification.

Certifications have found its way in almost every industry. The reason being, certifications are helpful to advance the career. Not to mention it allows candidates to evaluate their skills and knowledge. Moreover, these work as a recognition of their competency and shows your commitment towards your profession.

There are various certification bodies which offer certification in selenium. Therefore, you may find various training institutes who offer the same. However, don’t get lured by them. Now, understand and keep this in mind that there are only a few who are widely accepted. So, make sure you make your choice wisely.

When you have the knowledge, it will help you ace your interview. So, don’t expect there to be any certification which will make your resume stronger. Instead, you should focus on improving your skills.

So, I would recommend you to enrol in Technogeeks Selenium Automation Testing certification training program by working IT professionals with hands-on experience in projects. After the completion, of course, you will also be awarded course completion certificate which is industry recognizable and will also help you with mock interview and resume preparation.