Comparing Selenium 3 vs. Selenium 4

In a digitally connected world, you first see someone’s social media presence before meeting them in person. Similarly to this, when you operate a business, your website will be the first thing potential clients see. A reliable and robust website is essential right now.  

According to reports, 75% of clients judge a business’ legitimacy based just on its website. Web testing is then useful in this situation. This type of software testing ensures that users may access your website without any problems.  

Selenium is a free software program for automating the testing of web applications. Web testing tools like Selenium 3 and Selenium 4 are widely used. Let’s attempt to comprehend these Selenium variations and their differences.

The most recent Selenium versions are now Selenium 3 and Selenium 4. The fundamental cause for Selenium’s upgrading is the W3C WebDriver Protocol, which is the most significant difference between Selenium 3 and Selenium 4. The World Wide Online Consortium, or W3C, is a global organisation that creates online standards. The behaviour of a web browser is managed via the WebDriver Protocol.

Architecture for Selenium 3

The JSON Wire Protocol is a component of the Selenium 3 architecture. The JSON Wire Protocol is not included in Selenium 4, which is the difference between Selenium 3 and Selenium 4. JavaScript Object Notation, or JSON.

The information must be sent over HTTP from the client to the server using the JSON Wire Protocol. The abbreviation HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The Selenium Client and WebDriver Language Bindings component both send a Selenium request. The JSON Wire Protocol Over HTTP subsequently receives the request, which is then secured by the Browser Driver.

The request command is then sent to a web browser, where automation is performed. A response is sent back to the Browser Driver, JSON Wire Protocol, and Selenium Client & WebDriver Language Bindings once the automation is finished.

Selenium 4 Architecture

Selenium 4 has a direct client-server connection, as opposed to Selenium 3. While Browser Drivers are the server, the client still consists of two components: the Selenium Client and WebDriver Language Bindings. The web service architecture of Selenium 4 is more recent than Selenium 3

• The Selenium Client issues a command execution request.
• An action-driven code library is called WebDriver Language Bindings.
• After receiving the request and automating a response, browser drivers and Web browsers run the test script.

Language for Selenium Client & WebDriver Each language has a set of bindings that are particular to it. Bindings are a component of the architecture. Because of bindings, the same commands that are written for one language are also written for another. For instance, the Java language has a set of commands that have been created in (C#, Python JavaScript, and Ruby).

The built-in automation support of each Web browser is utilised by WebDriver to operate the Browser Drivers and Web Browsers. The Chrome browser is managed by a Browser Driver like ChromeDriver.

The drivers have changed in Selenium 4. While RemoteWebDriver is ChromiumDriver’s parent, ChromeDriver and EdgeDriver extend it. You can learn more about this by enrolling in a Selenium automation testing course.

Benefits of Selenium 4

Selenium 4 acquired at least three benefits in succession as a result of the upgrade. The benefits are:

• Standards 
• Stability
• Actions API update 

Because of the standards, our Test Scripts function more consistently across all browsers. There is a standard used by all browser vendors. Since Selenium 4 is W3C WebDriver compliant, the request’s encoding and decoding are no longer necessary.

Another benefit of backward compatibility is stability. The Selenium Server and the Java Bindings both offer a way to use the outdated JSON Wire Protocol. The Actions API for keyboard and mouse events has been updated. It allows the ability to perform multiple actions simultaneously, such as pushing two keys.

New Features in Selenium 4

Selenium IDE, Selenium WebDriver, and Selenium Grid are the new features in Selenium 4. These new features contained in Selenium 4 can perform various functions like:

• We can record, playback, edit, and debug our test using Selenium IDE.
• Selenium WebDriver is an API that automates an Application Under Test (AUT) by controlling a browser throughout the execution of our test.
• Our test is run using Selenium Grid on several computers, operating systems, and browsers.
• The backup was purchased by Selenium IDE.
• Backup Element Selectors and Control Flows were gained by Selenium IDE. For each element, the Backup Element Selectors keep track of numerous locators. In Selenium IDE, Control Flows help with statement execution. Conditionals and loops make up the control flows.

Conditionals

• if
• else-if
• else
• end

Loops

• do-repeat if
• while
• times
• forEach 

Selenium WebDriver now provides new capabilities including Chrome DevTools, Relative Locators, several ways to take screenshots, and window management in addition to the W3C WebDriver Protocol. Setting up a foundation of operating systems and browsers is made easier using Selenium Grid. Although the original grid was released in 2011, it is now more up-to-date. To delve deeper into the Selenium 4 New Features for Selenium IDE, Selenium WebDriver, and Selenium Grid, three chapters were developed.

Conclusion

 Both Selenium 3 and Selenium 4 are useful upgrades to web application quality testing procedures. Getting a Selenium automation certification is one of the ways to master Selenium features for automation testing.