How to Build and Execute Selenium Projects

Home Guide How to Build and Execute Selenium Projects

How to Build and Execute Selenium Projects

Building and running Selenium projects is a crucial aspect of test automation, enabling efficient test execution, report analysis, and bug tracking.

This process plays a key role in accelerating product delivery while maintaining high quality.

This guide covers the essential steps to build and execute Selenium projects effectively.

Building a Selenium project

Selenium projects can be built in different ways. This guide explains how to create a Selenium project using both a Java and Maven projects. Before getting started, ensure the following software is installed:

Java (JDK): Required for building Selenium projects with Java.
Maven: Necessary for managing dependencies in a Maven-based Selenium project.
Eclipse IDE: Helps create, execute, and maintain tests efficiently. Other IDEs can also be used if preferred.

Configuring Selenium using a Java Project

One of the simplest ways to build a Selenium project is by creating a Java project. To do so, first, all the necessary Selenium jars must be downloaded manually.

Note: Steps in this tutorial are written using Eclipse.

Click on File in the Eclipse navigation menu. Select/Hover on New and click on Project

Select Java Project and click on Next.

Enter the Project Name. In this example, the name is Building_a_Selenium_Project-BrowserStack. Click on Finish.

Java project Building_a_Selenium_Project-BrowserStack is successfully created in the package explorer of Eclipse.

Once the Java project is created, we need to download the necessary Selenium jars as well as a unit testing framework such as TestNG jars manually. Go to Selenium downloads page and click on Latest Stable Version.

Also Read: How to Install and Configure TestNG in Eclipse

Now, let’s download TestNG Jars

Once the Selenium server standalone jar is downloaded, add it to the Selenium project. Right-click on the project created. Hover the mouse on Build Path and click on Configure Build Path…

Click on Add External JARs… This will add the downloaded jar to the Selenium project

Select the download jar selenium-server-standalone and TestNG and click on Open.

Verify that the selenium-server-standalone and TestNG jars are added to the java build path. Then click on Apply and Close.

Verify that the downloaded jar is added under Referenced Libraries

Right-click on src and create a package. Once a package is created, create a java class under that package.

Now let’s try to create a simple program to validate that our project is successfully configured with Selenium.

Also Read: Selenium WebElement Commands

Sample Selenium Project using Java Project

Setting up a Selenium project using Java involves writing a basic script to automate browser actions. This example demonstrates how to build and execute a Selenium test case using Java and TestNG.

Here is the code snippet:

Code Snippet

package browserStackTutorials;

import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

import org.testng.annotations.Test;

public class BuildingSeleniumProject {

@Test

public void buildingTestMethod() {

System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", " C:\BrowserStack\chromedriver.exe");

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

driver.navigate().to("https://www.browserstack.com/");

String verifyBrowserStackTitle = driver.getTitle();

assertEquals("Most Reliable App & Cross Browser Testing Platform | BrowserStack",verifyBrowserStackTitle);

}

}

Read More: How to Automate TestNG in Selenium

Explanation of Code

Code Line-13 to 15: It verifies the title of the website by navigating to the website and getting the actual website title. Then it compares the actual title with the expected title.

Configuring Selenium using a Maven Project

Apache Maven is a software project management and comprehension tool. It is built on the concept of the Page Object Model (POM). Maven can manage a project’s build and reporting from a central piece of information.

Now let’s see how to build a Selenium project using Maven.

Note: Steps in this tutorial are written using Eclipse.

Click on “File” in the Eclipse navigation menu. Click on “Others” and click on “Project”

Expand the “Maven” module. Select “Maven Project” and click on “Next”
Click on “Next”
Select “maven-archetype-quickstart” and click on “Next”. Maven archetypes are project templates which can be generated for users by Maven

Enter “Group Id” and “Artifact Id” and click on “Finish”.

Also Read: What is Maven in Java? (Framework and Uses)

Group Id: Will identify your project uniquely among all projects. It must follow the package name rules. This means that it must contain, at least, the domain name.

Artifact Id: It is the name of the jar without a version. If you create the jar then you can choose whatever name you want with lowercase letters.

Verify that the “Maven Project” is created successfully with the name “Building_a_selenium_project”

Earlier we have configured Selenium using a Java project by downloading all the necessary Selenium jars. Then we have added the downloaded jars and placed them into the Java project through the configure build path.

This is not required in a Maven project. In this case, we must define the dependencies required to configure this Maven project with Selenium.

Maven pom.xml file

POM is stated or defined as a Project Object Model. The pom.xml file contains information related to the project such as configuration information for Maven to build the project. This includes dependencies, build directory, source directory, etc. Maven reads the pom.xml file, then executes the tests.

pom.xml file with elements

Element	Description
packaging	Describes packaging type such as jar
name	Describes name of the maven project
URL	Describes URL of the project
dependencies	Describes dependencies for this project
dependency	Describes a dependency. It is used inside dependencies
Scope	Describes scope for this maven project

Now let’s see how to configure the Maven project with Selenium.

Must Read: What is POM in Maven

Navigate to “www.mvnrepository.com” and search for “selenium server”. Click on Search.

Click on “Selenium Server” and select the latest stable version.

Copy the dependency into pom.xml file under the dependency node.

Code Snippet: POM.XML

Below is the structure of POM.xml.

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"

xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"

xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">

<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>


<groupId>BrowserStack</groupId>

<artifactId>Building_a_selenium_project</artifactId>

<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>

<packaging>jar</packaging>

<name>Building_a_selenium_project</name>

<url>http://maven.apache.org</url>


<properties>

<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>

</properties>


<dependencies>

<dependency>

<groupId>junit</groupId>

<artifactId>junit</artifactId>

<version>3.8.1</version>

<scope>test</scope>

</dependency>

<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.seleniumhq.selenium/selenium-server -->

<dependency>

<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>

<artifactId>selenium-server</artifactId>

<version>3.141.59</version>

</dependency>

<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.testng/testng -->

<dependency>

<groupId>org.testng</groupId>

<artifactId>testng</artifactId>

<version>6.14.3</version>

<scope>test</scope>

</dependency>

</dependencies>

</project>

Now let’s verify that all the required Selenium dependencies are added to our project.

Now let’s try to create a simple program to validate that our project is successfully configured with Selenium.

Sample Selenium Project using Maven Project

Maven simplifies managing dependencies and building Selenium projects. Using a Maven project for Selenium automation helps streamline the setup, execution, and maintenance of test cases.

Below is a code snippet demonstrating building and executing a Selenium project using Maven.

Code Snippet

package BrowserStack.Building_a_selenium_project;

import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

import org.testng.annotations.Test;

public class BrowserStack_MavenProject {

@Test

public void buildingTestMethod() {

System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "C:\\BrowserStack\\chromedriver.exe");

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

driver.navigate().to("https://www.browserstack.com/");

String verifyBrowserStackTitle = driver.getTitle();

assertEquals("Most Reliable App & Cross Browser Testing Platform | BrowserStack",verifyBrowserStackTitle);

}

}

Explanation of Code

Code Line-11 to 13: It verifies the title of the website by navigating to the website and getting the actual website title. Then, it compares the actual title with the expected title.

Thus, building and executing a Selenium project can be a bit complicated. But follow the instructions in these articles and you will be building your own projects flawlessly in no time.

Useful Resources for Automation Testing in Selenium

Methods, Classes, and Commands

Configuration

XPath

Locators and Selectors

Waits in Selenium

Frameworks in Selenium

Miscellaneous

Best Practices, Tips and Tricks

Design Patterns in Selenium: Page Object Model and Page Factory

Action Class

TestNG and Selenium

JUnit and Selenium

Use Cases

Types of Testing with Selenium

Talk to an Expert

Conclusion

BrowserStack Automate enables seamless Selenium testing on a real device cloud, allowing teams to run tests across thousands of real browsers, devices, and operating systems.

Features like parallel testing, real-time debugging, and integrations with CI/CD pipelines ensure faster and more reliable test execution.

Building and executing Selenium projects is crucial in achieving efficient test automation. By setting up the right tools, following best practices, and leveraging cloud-based platforms like BrowserStack Automate, teams can confidently streamline testing processes and deliver high-quality software.

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How to Build and Execute Selenium Projects