Selenium is an automation tool used to test the web pages .

- Selenium is an open source tool.
In the present days selenium is being used in most of the companies.
- It supports all the browsers

1.selenium IDE
2.selenium RC
3.selenium webdriver
4.selenium Grid

Selenium IDE:-
> selenium IDE is a tool used to record the activities done using browser.
> It is an addon for firefox broswer only.
> By using IDE we can convert the recorded activity to coding language(java, c#,perl......) without writing a single line of code by own.
>Reorded activity will store by default in HTML.

Selenium Webdriver:

Selenium-WebDriver makes direct calls to the browser using each browser’s native support for automation. How these direct calls are made, and the features they support depends on the browser you are using. Information on each ‘browser driver’ is provided later in this chapter.

For those familiar with Selenium-RC, this is quite different from what you are used to. Selenium-RC worked the same way for each supported browser. It ‘injected’ javascript functions into the browser when the browser was loaded and then used its javascript to drive the AUT within the browser. WebDriver does not use this technique. Again, it drives the browser directly using the browser’s built in support for automation.

Manual testing

-Testing is the process of identifying the bugs in a software based on the requirements.

Types of testing:

-smoke testing
-sanity testing
-adhoc
-Exploratory
-monkey testing
-UI testing
-compatibility testing

This section describes the different types of testing that may be used to test a software during SDLC.

Manual Testing

Manual testing includes testing a software manually, i.e., without using any automated tool or any script. In this type, the tester takes over the role of an end-user and tests the software to identify any unexpected behavior or bug. There are different stages for manual testing such as unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing.

Testers use test plans, test cases, or test scenarios to test a software to ensure the completeness of testing. Manual testing also includes exploratory testing, as testers explore the software to identify errors in it.

Automation Testing

Automation testing, which is also known as Test Automation, is when the tester writes scripts and uses another software to test the product. This process involves automation of a manual process. Automation Testing is used to re-run the test scenarios that were performed manually, quickly, and repeatedly.

Apart from regression testing, automation testing is also used to test the application from load, performance, and stress point of view. It increases the test coverage, improves accuracy, and saves time and money in comparison to manual testing.

What is Automate?

It is not possible to automate everything in a software. The areas at which a user can make transactions such as the login form or registration forms, any area where large number of users can access the software simultaneously should be automated.

Furthermore, all GUI items, connections with databases, field validations, etc. can be efficiently tested by automating the manual process.

When to Automate?

Test Automation should be used by considering the following aspects of a software:

Large and critical projects
Projects that require testing the same areas frequently
Requirements not changing frequently
Accessing the application for load and performance with many virtual users
Stable software with respect to manual testing
Availability of time

How to Automate?

Automation is done by using a supportive computer language like VB scripting and an automated software application. There are many tools available that can be used to write automation scripts. Before mentioning the tools, let us identify the process that can be used to automate the testing process:

Identifying areas within a software for automation
Selection of appropriate tool for test automation
Writing test scripts
Development of test suits
Execution of scripts
Create result reports
Identify any potential bug or performance issues

Software Testing Tools

The following tools can be used for automation testing:

HP Quick Test Professional
Selenium
IBM Rational Functional Tester
SilkTest
TestComplete
Testing Anywhere
WinRunner
LaodRunner
Visual Studio Test Professional
WATIR

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC):-

There are following six phases in every Software development life cycle model:

Requirement gathering and analysis
Design
Implementation or coding
Testing
Deployment
Maintenance

1) Requirement gathering and analysis: Business requirements are gathered in this phase. This phase is the main focus of the project managers and stake holders. Meetings with managers, stake holders and users are held in order to determine the requirements like; Who is going to use the system? How will they use the system? What data should be input into the system? What data should be output by the system? These are general questions that get answered during a requirements gathering phase. After requirement gathering these requirements are analyzed for their validity and the possibility of incorporating the requirements in the system to be development is also studied.

Finally, a Requirement Specification document is created which serves the purpose of guideline for the next phase of the model.

2) Design: In this phase the system and software design is prepared from the requirement specifications which were studied in the first phase. System Design helps in specifying hardware and system requirements and also helps in defining overall system architecture. The system design specifications serve as input for the next phase of the model.

3) Implementation / Coding: On receiving system design documents, the work is divided in modules/units and actual coding is started. Since, in this phase the code is produced so it is the main focus for the developer. This is the longest phase of the software development life cycle.

4) Testing: After the code is developed it is tested against the requirements to make sure that the product is actually solving the needs addressed and gathered during the requirements phase. During this phase unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing are done.

5) Deployment: After successful testing the product is delivered / deployed to the customer for their use.

6) Maintenance: Once when the customers starts using the developed system then the actual problems comes up and needs to be solved from time to time. This process where the care is taken for the developed product is known as maintenance.

What are the Software Development Models?

There are various Software development models or methodologies. They are as follows:

Choosing right model for developing of the software product or application is very important. Based on the model the development and testing processes are carried out.

Different companies based on the software application or product, they select the type of development model whichever suits to their application. But these days in market the ‘Agile Methodology’ is the most used model. ‘Waterfall Model’ is the very old model. In ‘Waterfall Model’ testing starts only after the development is completed. Because of which there are many defects and failures which are reported at the end. So,the cost of fixing these issues are high. Hence, these days people are preferring ‘Agile Model’. In ‘Agile Model’ after every sprint there is a demo-able feature to the customer. Hence customer can see the features whether they are satisfying their need or not.

‘V-model’ is also used by many of the companies in their product. ‘V-model’ is nothing but ‘Verification’ and ‘Validation’ model. In ‘V-model’ the developer’s life cycle and tester’s life cycle are mapped to each other. In this model testing is done side by side of the development.

Likewise ‘Incremental model’, ‘RAD model’, ‘Iterative model’ and ‘Spiral model’ are also used based on the requirement of the customer and need of the product.