Reflections on "Selenium's 20-Year Birthday"

Happy Birthday to the has-always-been the best Web Automation Framework, since 2011 (when Selenium 2, i.e. Selenium WebDriver)

Image credit: testingbot

If you work in software testing and are relatively active on social media, you might have seen the “Happy 20-Year Birthday to Selenium” posts like the above. The below is the official one on the Selenium site.

https://www.selenium.dev/blog/2024/selenium-milestone-20yrs-blog/

My journey in end-to-end test automation began in 2005, back when Selenium was still in its infancy. I've been actively involved in the evolution of Selenium and web test automation for nearly 20 years, and here, I’d like to share some of my insights.

FYI: Selenium and Selenium WebDriver are the same thing since 2011.

Selenium WebDriver, in my opinion, has been and still is the best Web (Browser) Automation Framework. It leads its competitors by a big gap (I know some will disagree, read on, and I will provide proof shortly).

Selenium WebDriver Lowered the Bar for Test Automation

I have used/reviewed the following commercial automation software:

• Mercury Interactive Quick Test Pro → HP QTP → Micro Focus UFT

• IBM Rational Functional Tester

• Microsoft Coded UI Test

• Ranorex

• Plus some lesser-known ones

As you might know, several of these tools are either obsolete or no longer widely used. One thing they all had in common though, was their high cost. In 2000, when I was a senior Java developer, I was once curious to try automation. My project manager made a special request, and I vividly remember a lady coming down with a CD box to install QTP on my machine—like it was a prized possession! But after using it, I realized it was mostly just record-and-playback, with scripting that was both difficult and cumbersome. Not Useful.

Over 20 years ago, the high cost of test automation kept it out of reach for most software teams. Selenium WebDriver changed that. Being free and open-source, Selenium effectively put an end to those ultra-expensive tools (also with wrong approaches) as web applications became the mainstream of software development in the early 2000s.

Selenium made test automation accessible to the broader community, though many newer software professionals might not realize its transformative impact.

20-Year is a Long Time for a Test Automation

The software industry evolves rapidly, so anything lasting 20 years is a significant achievement—especially in Test Automation.

Setting aside commercial tools (see the above), the typical lifespan of a JavaScript-based web test automation framework is often quite short.

Too Many Failed JavaScript Test Automation Frameworks!

So-called “Selenium Killers” died and are dying while Selenium still dominates