“Start Using Selenium WebDriver” a short, free, online course to help you get started and install the tools you need to work with Selenium WebDriver and Java. By the end of this course you will have written your first test.
Getting Started with Selenium WebDriver can prove tricky.
That’s one reason why we created a set of introductory videos to help you get the tools you need installed to get up and running.
If you basically know what your are doing and want a “Just the Facts” approach to installation and getting started then - use our Speedrun Install Checklists and Videos.
About this Course
This course covers the basic setup steps required for anyone starting out with Selenium and Java.
You will learn how to install:
- Java
- Maven
- Firefox and the necessary Firefox plugins to support you automation.
- IntelliJ
- & optionally Ant and Eclipse - you don’t need to, I just added it for completeness
We also take a few steps that take you through the creation of a simple project with your first test.
After following this course you should be setup to follow the various tutorials on the web, or buy and work through the Selenium Simplified book, or other books on Selenium available.
And if you want to go on a Selenium training course. Then the steps in this course should be the pre-requisite installations and checking instructions to make sure the course goes smoothly.
I produced this course to make it free and easy for people to get started, but also to act as a pre-requisite prior to coming on my WebDriver training courses. This way on the training, we don’t have to spend a morning getting the basic tools setup and working, you can do it prior to the course and we can spend more time learning WebDriver Automation.
Install The Tools
You might also find our ‘speedrun’ Checklists and Videos useful. The speedruns are a ’no commentary’, fast, run through of the install.
- Overview of Selenium
- What Tools Will We Install And Why
- Use our Speedrun Install Checklists and Videos to install everything you need
- Introduction to the IDEs
Create a Project And Write a Test
In the videos I use an older version of Selenium WebDriver (2.24) when you work through the videos, use a more recent version e.g. 2.35.0 (if you need help then see the video in the FAQ section).
- Intro To Maven
- Add Selenium As a Dependency
- Summary Of Why Maven
- How is Maven getting the dependencies
- Recommend you use ChromeDriver instead of FirefoxDriver when you follow along with these older videos.
- My First WebDriver Test
- My First WebDriver Test Explored
- Exercise My First Test
- Use A Real Browser
- Extra: Create a simple WebDriver Test using IntelliJ
- Extra: Running Tests From Maven
- Extra: Running Tests From Command Line with Maven
- Extra: Running Maven Tests from IntelliJ IDE
Source
If you followed the above lectures then you should have a working project. If you get stuck then you can download the source code:
FAQs
- Read the FAQ posts on this blog
- Maven Troubleshooting Hints Tips and FAQs
- Maven Troubleshooting Downloads
- Maven Troubleshooting Proxies and Cache issues
- FAQ: Why are my JUnit Asserts deprecated
- FAQ: Why is Firefox browser not closing?
- FAQ: How to Update the version of Selenium (shows 2.24 to 2.26)
To update the version of Selenium amend the dependency, e.g.
<dependency>
<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
<artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
<version>2.53.1</version>
</dependency>
Using Ant & Eclipse
I included Ant & Eclipse because I used them in the “Selenium Simplified” book, which covered Selenium-RC. I prefer to guide beginners towards Maven and IntelliJ but include these videos for completeness.
