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Please, Not Another Web Test Automation Framework, Just Use Raw Selenium WebDriver
Don’t ruin your test automation with a silly mistake — “building a new test framework”
Update 2023–02-09: a new related article, An Unbelievable True Story: People’s Fixation on an Obviously Failed “Self-Created” Test Automation Framework
Recently I saw alarming text such as “Creating your own Automation Framework” repeatedly appearing in some test automation video courses and blog posts. As a test automation consultant and coach, I believe this has to be one of the most unnecessary and insane mistakes that will kill your test automation attempts. Sadly, this mistake is common.
I would like to give out my recommendation first: just use raw Selenium WebDriver. The reasons are simple:
- WebDriver is a W3C standard
- WebDriver is the only framework supported by all major browsers: Chrome (Google), Firefox, Safari (Apple), and IE/Edge (Microsoft)
Automated UI tests for web apps are executed in a browser. Without browser vendors’ support, how can a test framework be reliable enough for testing in the long run (as we know, Chrome self-updates about every two months)? We all know the fate of Adobe’s Flash and Microsoft’s Silverlight, both lost to HTML5, a W3C standard.
For people who don’t believe raw Selenium WebDriver will work, please read this article: “WhenWise Regression Test Suite Reaches 500 Selenium tests and ~300K Test Executions”, sample test script in ‘Maintainable Test Design’ is also shown.
Generally speaking, the wrong choices of test frameworks fall into two categories:
1. Vendor’s framework/tools
Testing tools from some big companies, such as HP Quick Test Pro (it has been sold to Micro Focus, who is now a Selenium Sponsor of Selenium WebDriver), IBM’s Rational Functional Tester, and Microsoft Coded UI, have been fading quickly in the test automation market. For example, Microsoft deprecated Coded UI Test and…
