Mastering Selenium Python: From Beginner to Advanced Automation Expert – Lesson 2: Opening Different Browsers Using Selenium Python

In this lesson, we will explore how to set up and open different web browsers using Selenium WebDriver with Python. Selenium WebDriver supports several major browsers, allowing for versatile testing across multiple platforms. Here, we’ll cover the setup for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, which are the most commonly used browsers for web automation.

Prerequisites Before diving into browser setups, ensure you have Python installed along with Selenium and the webdriver-manager package, which simplifies driver management. If you haven’t already set up these components, refer to Lesson 1 for detailed installation instructions.

1. Opening Google Chrome Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers and frequently used for Selenium testing. Here’s how to open Chrome using Selenium:

from selenium import webdriver
from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

driver = webdriver.Chrome(ChromeDriverManager().install())
driver.get("https://www.google.com")
print("Google Chrome launched successfully!")

The webdriver-manager handles the ChromeDriver installation automatically, ensuring you are using the latest version compatible with your browser.

2. Opening Mozilla Firefox Firefox is another popular choice for testing due to its robust developer tools and consistent performance. To open Firefox with Selenium:

from selenium import webdriver
from webdriver_manager.firefox import GeckoDriverManager

driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=GeckoDriverManager().install())
driver.get("https://www.google.com")
print("Mozilla Firefox launched successfully!")

Here, GeckoDriverManager takes care of downloading the GeckoDriver needed for Firefox.

3. Opening Microsoft Edge Edge, based on Chromium, has grown in popularity and is essential for testing Windows-based applications. To launch Edge using Selenium:

from selenium import webdriver
from webdriver_manager.microsoft import EdgeChromiumDriverManager

driver = webdriver.Edge(EdgeChromiumDriverManager().install())
driver.get("https://www.google.com")
print("Microsoft Edge launched successfully!")

The EdgeChromiumDriverManager ensures that the correct version of the Edge WebDriver is installed.

Conclusion By following these steps, you can set up Selenium WebDriver to work with the three most popular web browsers. This capability is crucial for developing cross-browser tests to ensure your web applications perform well across all platforms and devices.

Next Steps Experiment with different browser settings and capabilities. Many browsers allow you to modify preferences and capabilities to suit various testing needs, such as disabling pop-ups, downloading files automatically, or running in headless mode for faster execution of tests.