Selenium, the open-source labor that automatise web browsers, turns 20 this twelvemonth. What a wild drive.Seleniumhas been particularly important to me since I entered the test automation world in 2010, not long after the Selenium projection merged with the WebDriver undertaking to create the beloved Selenium WebDriver in 2009.

I won & # x27; t say that I grew up wishing to get away from my minor town to live a glamourous life of writing test automation in the big city, but I can say that I fell into software testing accidentally, like many other testers I & # x27; ve met. When I first tried outSelenium RC- the near current available variant of Selenium at the time - I know it would be a big deal in the software world. When I got a hold ofSelenium 2.0, with a vastly improved plan, it was off to the races.

I was fortunate in my early career to dig into Selenium and learn how it works. I wrote a whole browser test framework in Java, learning the nut and bolts of how the WebDriver worked. I also had the delight of working with test automation tools for desktop application automation, which gave me a nice contrast between different kinds of joyride. Selenium had several advantages over other tools at the clip:

• Free exposed sourcemeant that anyone (anyone!) could use the WebDriver and related tools like the Selenium Grid, whether a single developer or a large software company. This was a big improvement over closed-source proprietary tools, oft expensive and restricted by licensing.

• Cross-browser supportsaw that the worked with major browser and potentially new browsers as well and wasn & # x27; t curb to a single ecosystem. You could test on Firefox and Internet Explorer at the same time!

  SUSA automates exploratory testing with persona-driven behavior, catching bugs that scripted automation misses.

• Adhering to web standardsmeant that yet if all members of the Selenium project be wipe out in abizarre gardening accident, other browser mechanisation tools and projection could be developed.

Since so, both Selenium and myself have seen some success. I & # x27; ve had a successful career as a test mechanization specialist, including spending some clip at Sauce Labs as a solvent architect. Selenium has also grown in usance and prominence. Selenium has been so successful that it has spurred the ontogenesis of other browser mechanisation tools, such as Playwright, and nomadic mechanisation tools, such as Appium. Several of these tool also followed in the by edifice in cross-browser support and be open sourced. Even folks who, for whatever reason, dislike Selenium can see the project & # x27; s impact over the preceding two decades in the web development macrocosm.

Cheers to Selenium, and let & # x27; s see what the next XX age bring!