Anna Thorsen
Have you found yourself executing tests in Selenium, only to find that a recent browser update has brought everything to a standstill? You’re not alone.
Every time a browser updates, your web browser and WebDriver become out of sync. And before you know it, your WebDriver tests start failing.
And it’s only once you’ve updated your Selenium tests that things get up and running again.
So what can you do to avoid this happening every time there’s a Browser update?
We’ll uncover that in this post, along with exactly why browser updates cause such a headache.
Related reading: Selenium Test Automation: Everything You Need To Know
How often do Chrome and Edge update?
The two major browsers Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge carry out regular updates.
Chrome releases a full major update about every four weeks, ith minor releases every two to three weeks.
Edge has followed in Google's footsteps with an update cycle every four weeks. There is an option for enterprise customers to extend their release cycle to eight weeks. This gives them more time to manage updates. But it doesn’t prevent them from having to test.
So when that release is rolled out, the maintenance begins. And not every organization has the capacity to handle these releases in good time.
Why Browser updates in Selenium cause a headache
Any organization automating tests in a web browser faces this challenge.
With every browser update comes the painstaking task of downloading the latest driver, updating your branch, and getting your team to update their browsers too.
And carrying out this task may sound simple, but the larger the organization, the more difficult these updates are to cope with.
From the maintenance of the test suite, to the resources available, and the potential downtime of your web app.
The maintenance burden grows with enterprises
The bigger the organization, the harder the maintenance. Especially if you factor in different groups working on tests across the globe.
Going through these tests and updating them requires a lot of time and resources. Resources that aren’t always readily available.
And the time it takes to execute these changes in Selenium puts the quality of what you’re testing at risk. This is because your WebDriver tests won’t function until you’ve resolved the issue between Selenium and the updated web browser.
This can stall progress and lead to downtime. Not ideal.
So how can you avoid browser updates from messing with your tests?
What you can do to stop browser updates from interfering with your test.
Whether you’re using a vendor based on Selenium, or using Selenium directly, you’re likely to face this problem. It slows progress because tests can’t run for a period of time.
With codeless Selenium solutions like Leapwork, that’s no longer the case.
We offer an optional plug-in for Chrome and Edge, so you no longer need to rely on Selenium to run your web automation. Your tests can continue to flow uninterrupted, without breakage.
For faster, easier, and more robust test automation.
Want to learn more about web automation and Selenium? Get our Selenium testing whitepaper to evaluate if the tool is right for you, and search for potential alternatives.
