Selenium and Its Automation Functionality

ibnsina January 16, 2026

 

Introduction

In today’s fast-growing software industry, automation testing has become a key skill for developers and testers. Manual testing is time-consuming, repetitive, and error-prone. This is where Selenium comes in.

Selenium is a powerful open-source tool used to automate web browsers. It allows us to simulate real user actions such as clicking buttons, filling forms, navigating pages, and validating results automatically.

This blog explains what Selenium is, how it works, and how its automation functionality helps developers and testers.



What is Selenium?

Selenium is an open-source automation framework mainly used for testing web applications. It supports multiple programming languages and works with almost all modern browsers.

Key Features of Selenium

  • Open source and free

  • Supports multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)

  • Works with many programming languages

  • Platform independent (Windows, Linux, macOS)

  • Ideal for automated functional testing

Components of Selenium

Selenium is not a single tool; it is a suite of tools:

1. Selenium WebDriver

  • The most important component

  • Directly controls the browser

  • Automates real user actions like clicking, typing, scrolling

2. Selenium IDE

  • Browser extension (Chrome/Firefox)

  • Record and play feature

  • Good for beginners

3. Selenium Grid

  • Run tests in parallel

  • Test on multiple browsers and machines at the same time

How Selenium Automation Works

Selenium works by interacting with web elements using their properties.

Automation Flow

  1. Open browser

  2. Navigate to a website

  3. Locate web elements (input, button, link)

  4. Perform actions (click, type, submit)

  5. Validate results

  6. Close browser


Example: 

🧰 Requirements (Before Running)

pip install selenium(if problem importing create virtual envirnment and turn on vpn)

Make sure:

  • Chrome browser installed

  • ChromeDriver version matches your Chrome

In python Run this code
from selenium import webdriver
import time

driver = webdriver.Chrome()

driver.get("https://himel-profile-showcase.lovable.app")
time.sleep(2)

driver.get("https://github.com/IBNSINAHIMEL")
time.sleep(2)

driver.get("https://himel-profile-showcase.lovable.app")
time.sleep(2)

driver.get("https://www.kaggle.com/ibnsinahimel")
time.sleep(2)

driver.get("https://himel-profile-showcase.lovable.app")
time.sleep(2)

driver.get("https://flyiochatbot.fly.dev/")
time.sleep(2)

# driver.quit()  # uncomment if you want auto-close

What this script will do (step-by-step)

   1.Open browser

   2.Go to himel profile website

   3.Go to GitHub profile

   4.Wait 2 seconds

   5.Go back to profile website

   6.Go to Kaggle profile

   7.Wait 2 seconds

   8.Go back to profile website

   9.Go to Fly.io chatbot website

                                           VIDEO 

If we cant to run selenium on our php/html/localhost project 
download bellow project first ,extract zip file. Copy project folder inside xampp htdocs folder 
C:\xampp\htdocs


                                      watch this video for understanding selenium automation 


Automatic Functionality of Selenium

Selenium can automatically perform tasks that humans normally do manually.

1. Automatic Browser Control

Selenium can:

  • Open browser

  • Maximize window

  • Navigate between pages

  • Close browser automatically

2. Automatic Form Filling

It can:

  • Enter username and password

  • Select dropdown values

  • Click submit buttons

3. Automatic Navigation

Selenium can automatically:

  • Move between pages

  • Click links

  • Handle redirects

4. Automatic Validation

Selenium can:

  • Check page titles

  • Verify messages

  • Validate URLs and page content

5. Automatic Testing

Once written, a Selenium script can:

  • Run tests repeatedly

  • Save time and effort

  • Reduce human errors

Example: Simple Selenium Automation Script (Python)

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
import time

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("http://localhost/user_system/user_dashboard.php")

time.sleep(2)
driver.get("http://localhost/user_system/change_password.php")

time.sleep(2)
driver.quit()

What This Script Does

  • Opens Chrome browser

  • Goes to dashboard page

  • Automatically navigates to change password page

  • Closes the browser

Advantages of Selenium Automation

  • Faster testing

  • Reusable test scripts

  • Reduces manual effort

  • Supports continuous integration

  • Improves software quality

Limitations of Selenium

  • Cannot automate desktop applications

  • Needs programming knowledge

  • No built-in reporting (external tools needed)

Real-World Uses of Selenium

  • Login and registration testing

  • Form validation testing

  • Regression testing

  • Web scraping (limited use)

  • Continuous integration testing

Why Learn Selenium?

Learning Selenium is valuable because:

  • High demand in software testing jobs

  • Useful for developers and QA engineers

  • Helps in real-world projects

  • Easy to integrate with Python, Java, and CI tools

Conclusion

Selenium is a powerful and flexible automation tool that makes web testing faster and more reliable. Its ability to automatically control browsers and simulate user behavior makes it an essential skill for modern developers and testers.

If you want to build efficient, automated, and scalable web applications, learning Selenium is a great choice.

ibnsina

Posted by ibnsina

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