Selenium is not just a single tool but a suite of software’s, each having a different approach to support automation testing. It comprises of four major components which include:
- Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- Selenium Remote Control (Now Deprecated)
- WebDriver
- Selenium Grid
Selenium is a powerful tool for automating web browsers and is widely used for web application testing. The Selenium suite consists of several components, each serving a specific purpose. As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, here are the main components of Selenium:
- Selenium WebDriver:
- WebDriver is the core component of Selenium that allows you to automate browser actions. It provides a programming interface to interact with web browsers and perform operations like clicking buttons, filling forms, navigating through pages, etc.
- Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment):
- Selenium IDE is a browser extension that provides a graphical user interface for recording and playing back interactions with the browser. It is primarily used for prototyping and quick test script generation.
- Selenium Grid:
- Selenium Grid is used for parallel execution of test scripts across multiple machines and browsers simultaneously. It allows you to scale your test automation by distributing test execution.
- Selenium RC (Remote Control): (Deprecated)
- Selenium RC was an earlier version of Selenium that has been deprecated. It has been replaced by WebDriver, which is more powerful and has a simpler and more consistent API.
It’s important to note that Selenium WebDriver is the most widely used component, and Selenium Grid is often employed for distributed testing. Selenium IDE is more beginner-friendly and is useful for quick script development but may not be suitable for complex test scenarios.
Please check the Selenium official website or documentation for any updates or changes to these components, as the Selenium project may evolve over time.