**Selenium** is a free and open-source automated testing suite for Web User Interfaces. Its tool suite provides automated testing for all types of web applications. The suites, or components, are:

- **Selenium IDE:** A very simple automated testing browser extension for Firefox.
- **Selenium Remote Control (RC):** An extensive automation testing tool for browsers. 
- **Selenium Grid:** Used to automate tests in parallel on different machines, browsers, and operating systems.
- **Selenium WebDriver:** Which improves on Selenium RC, is the latest addition to the suite.

We are concerned mainly with the **Selenium WebDriver** component, however, it is essential to understand key differences between these.

# Selenium Webdriver

The Selenium WebDriver component integrated the **WebDriver API**. It allows you to use a programming language to create test scripts for a web application. The supported languages are:
- Java
- C#
- Python
- PHP
- Perl
- Ruby

The use of programming languages to write tests means one can now employ the use of conditional statements, such as if-else, and loops. 

## How does it differ from the other components?

Unlike other components like Selenium RC, which use another server to act as a middleman for communication with the browser, Selenium WebDriver's architecture is such that it communicates directly with the browser from the OS level. Therefore, it naturally follows that it has a much faster execution time because of direct communication with the browser.




It also has support for several browsers, unlike Selenium IDE, which only supports Firefox and Google Chrome. 

>**Note:** The *HtmlUnit* browser in the above figure is a **headless** browser - a special type of browser with no GUI. This makes automated test execution cycles rapid - because no time is taken waiting for page elements to load. Selenium RC, for instance, does not support headless browsers. 

It is also designed to support dynamic webpages - where elements on the page change without the entire page reloading itself. With recent web technologies, more and more webpages are dynamic, making it very well suited for modern web applications.

What is the Selenium WebDriver?

Selenium is a free and open-source automated testing suite for Web User Interfaces. Its tool suite provides automated testing for all types of web applications. The suites, or components, are:  Selenium IDE: A very simple automated testing browser extension for Firefox. Selenium Remote Control (RC): An extensive automation testing tool for browsers. Selenium Grid: Used to automate tests in parallel on different machines, browsers, and operating systems. Selenium WebDriver: Which improves on Selenium RC, is the latest addition to the suite.  We are concerned mainly with the Selenium WebDriver component, however, it is essential to understand key differences between these. Selenium Webdriver The Selenium WebDriver component integrated the WebDriver API. It allows you to use a programming language to create test scripts for a web application. The supported languages are:  Java C# Python PHP Perl Ruby  The use of programming languages to write tests means one can now employ the use of conditional statements, such as if-else, and loops. How does it differ from the other components? Unlike other components like Selenium RC, which use another server to act as a middleman for communication with the browser, Selenium WebDriver s architecture is such that it communicates directly with the browser from the OS level. Therefore, it naturally follows that it has a much faster execution time because of direct communication with the browser. 