Selenium Interview Questions

1) What is Automation Testing?

Automation testing or Test Automation is a process of automating the manual process to test the application/system under test. Automation testing involves the use of a separate testing tool which lets you create test scripts which can be executed repeatedly and doesn’t require any manual intervention.

2) What are the benefits of Automation Testing?

1. Aids in testing a large test matrix

2. Enables parallel execution

3. Encourages unattended execution

4. Improves accuracy thereby reducing human-generated errors

5. Saves time and money

Supports execution of repeated test cases

3) Why should Selenium be selected as a test tool?

1. Selenium is a free and open source
2. have a large user base and helping communities
3. have cross Browser compatibility (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari etc.)
4. have great platform compatibility (Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc.)
5. supports multiple programming languages (Java, C#, Ruby, Python, Pearl etc.)
6. has fresh and regular repository developments
7. supports distributed testing

4) What are the different Selenium components?

• Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – Selenium IDE is a record and playback tool. It is distributed as a Firefox Plugin.
• Selenium Remote Control (RC) – Selenium RC is a server that allows a user to create test scripts in the desired programming language. It also allows executing test scripts within the large spectrum of browsers.
• Selenium WebDriver – WebDriver is a different tool altogether that has various advantages over Selenium RC. WebDriver directly communicates with the web browser and uses its native compatibility to automate.
• Selenium Grid – Selenium Grid is used to distribute your test execution on multiple platforms and environments concurrently.

5) What are the testing types that can be supported by Selenium?

1. Functional Testing
2. Regression Testing

6) What are the limitations of Selenium?

• Selenium supports testing of only web-based applications
• Mobile applications cannot be tested using Selenium
• Captcha and Barcode readers cannot be tested using Selenium
• Reports can only be generated using third-party tools like TestNG or JUnit.
• As Selenium is a free tool, thus there is no ready vendor support through the user can find numerous helping communities.
• The user is expected to possess prior programming language knowledge.

7) What is a Framework?

A framework defines a set of rules or best practices which we can follow in a systematic way to achieve the desired results. There are different types of automation frameworks and the most common ones are:

• Keyword Driven Testing Framework
• Hybrid Testing Framework
• Data Driven Testing Framework

8) What is Selenium RC?

Selenium RC AKA Selenium Remote control / Selenium 1. Selenium Remote Control was the main Selenium project for a long time before the WebDriver merge brought up Selenium 2. Selenium 1 is still actively supported (in maintenance mode). It relies on JavaScript for automation. It supports Java, Javascript, Ruby, PHP, Python, Perl and C#. It supports almost every browser out there.

9) What is Selenium WebDriver?

Selenium WebDriver AKA Selenium 2 is a browser automation framework that accepts commands and sends them to a browser. It is implemented through a browser-specific driver. It controls the browser by directly communicating with it. Selenium WebDriver supports Java, C#, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby.

10) What is Selenium Grid?

Selenium Grid is a tool used together with Selenium RC to run tests on different machines against different browsers in parallel. That is, running multiple tests at the same time against different machines running different browsers and operating systems.

In simple words, it is used to distribute your test execution on multiple platforms and environments concurrently.

11) What are the Programming Languages supported by Selenium WebDiver?

• Java
• C#
• Python
• Ruby
• Perl
• PHP

12) What are the Operating Systems supported by Selenium WebDriver?

• Windows
• Linux
• Apple

13) What are the Open-source Frameworks supported by Selenium WebDriver?

• JUnit
• TestNG

14) Have you created any Framework?

If you are a beginner: No, I didn’t get a chance to create a framework. I have used the framework which is already available.
If you are an experienced tester: Yes, I have created a framework. Or I have involved in the creation of the framework.

15) When should I use Selenium IDE?

Selenium IDE is the simplest and easiest of all the tools within the Selenium Package. Its record and playback feature make it exceptionally easy to learn with minimal acquaintances to any programming language. Selenium IDE is an ideal tool for a naïve user.