Selenium Simplified [Paperback]

Alan John Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0956733212 | ISBN-13: 978-0956733214

Selenium is one of the most popular open-source automated testing tools available today. Understanding Selenium-RC and writing automated tests in a programming language are sought after skills on the job market and a great way of maximising the benefit from automated testing. Contrary to the beliefs of many testers, learning to code does not have to be complicated or hard.

"Selenium Simplified" takes you through the process of installing and learning to use all the basic tools needed to write automated tests using Java as the programming language. Written in a tutorial style, this book helps you learn to code even if you haven't programmed before. No time is wasted on the theory of automation or padding about the tools.

This book focuses on the practical knowledge needed to automate tests for production systems.

After reading this book you will be able to:

• Write tests in Java - even if you haven't coded before reading this book
• Install and maintain all the free development and testing tools covered within: Eclipse, JUnit, Selenium, Hudson, Subversion, Xpather, Selenium-IDE
• Write automated tests scripts using Java and Selenium-RC
• Create abstraction layers to make your automated tests maintainable and readable
• Run your automated tests under continuous integration
• Use multiple browsers to execute your tests
• Understand the most utilised commands in the Selenium API
• Test Ajax based web applications
• Use Xpath and CSS Selectors in your tests
• Understand how to optimise and refactor your tests
• Use JUnit for data driven testing

Editorial Reviews

Review

For information on using the current edition of the book with Selenium 2 versions, please read the following blog post can-i-use-selenium-simplified-with-selenium-2

compendiumdev.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/06/14/can-i-use-selenium-simplified-with-selenium-2/

The book contents can be used with Selenium 2.x versions

From the Author

When I started writing this the Selenium documentation was still a work in progress. The official documentation has improved massively, but still doesn't target the beginner audience that I target in this book.

I wrote this book to act as a supplement to the official documentation so that when you finish this book you can read and understand the official documentation easily. If you don't buy this book, then at least read the official selenium documentation to learn about Selenium-RC.

I interview a lot of testers. And it has been hard to recruit good testers with Selenium experience. I speak to so many people who get stuck at the IDE and don't progress further. I speak to so many testers who could get benefits from using automation but don't think they can understand the 'technical' aspects. And there was nowhere I could direct those testers so they could learn. I wrote this book so that those testers can read through this tutorial, work through it at their own pace, and learn to automate web tests.

When I started writing this there were no good training courses on Selenium. Now there are a few costly options and for many people that cost is a bit off putting, so by creating an affordable tutorial book there are more options in how people approach the learning of this tool.

I wrote this because I want to see more testers with the technical skills to incorporate automation into their test processes. And I know that it can seem daunting before you start. But automation is actually pretty simple. And I hope that by working through this tutorial, anyone can pick up the basics and start doing automated web testing.


This book was released early as part of a beta programme to get feedback from real users about what they actually need. The comments I received from the readers in the Beta programme were great. This book has already taken people who couldn't code to the point where they are writing pretty advanced test suites in Java.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Compendium Developments (November 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0956733212
• ISBN-13: 978-0956733214
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 11.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wish it was updated, June 23, 2011

By 

QAQC - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Selenium Simplified (Paperback)

I'm a COMPLETE Selenium newbie (and know very little about Java) so I got this book so I could learn Selenium step by step since lots of companies are asking for this tool.

Although this book seems to be well written, I'm finding myself having trouble just with the few few chapters. The reason?

In the book it takes you step by step through the installation of Selenium RC.

However, when you go to the Selenium site to download 'Selenium RC' it appears that Selenium RC has been replaced with "Selenium Server".

So the syntax in the book is outdated, it will tell the reader to enter a certain string in the Command Prompt Window and that doesn't work in this new "selenium-standalone-server" folder. With the old Selenium-RC it looks like folders for Java, Ruby, C# etc. are downloaded along with Selenium-RC.. not the case anymore.

Learning new software is challenging enough, it gets really confusing when the book you're referencing is out of date.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book to learn the Selenium API, August 20, 2011

By 

Burke (Chester Springs, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selenium Simplified (Paperback)

Yes, Selenium 2.0 is now available, but everything you learn in this book carries forward.

This is definitely a book for programming geeks. If you're going to get a lot out of this book, you probably need to know java and be familiar with Hudson/Jenkins. Other topics include Eclipse, SVN, and ANT.

If you're not a developer, or want to use the Selenium IDE, check out "Selenium 1.0 Testing Tools: Beginner's Guide"