Selenium 3 WebDriver is a popular tool used for automating web browsers. The architecture of Selenium 3 WebDriver consists of the following components:
1. Selenium uses the JSON Wire Protocol to communicate with browsers, and can be used with any programming language that supports this protocol. The JSON Wire Protocol is a simple, lightweight protocol that allows communication between a browser and a WebDriver. It uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to format data, and is designed to be easy to use and implement.
2. Language Bindings: Selenium WebDriver supports several programming languages like Java, C#, Python, Ruby, and JavaScript. Language bindings are responsible for converting the code written in a particular programming language into a format that can be understood by the Selenium WebDriver API.
3. WebDriver API: The WebDriver API is responsible for interacting with the web browser. It provides a set of methods to perform various actions on web elements like clicking buttons, filling forms, and navigating between web pages.
4. Browser Drivers: A browser driver is a software component that acts as a mediator between the WebDriver API and the web browser. It is responsible for communicating with the browser and executing the WebDriver commands.
5. Browser-specific implementations: WebDriver API provides a generic interface for interacting with different web browsers. However, each browser has its own specific implementation of the WebDriver API. For example, ChromeDriver is used for interacting with the Google Chrome browser, GeckoDriver for Firefox, and EdgeDriver for Microsoft Edge.
6. Selenium Server: Selenium Server is a standalone server that allows remote execution of WebDriver scripts. It is used in cases where the WebDriver script needs to be executed on a remote machine. Selenium Grid is a component of Selenium Server that allows distributed testing of WebDriver scripts across multiple machines.
7. Selenium 3 also includes support for the WebDriver W3C standard. This standard defines a platform-neutral interface that allows programs to control web browsers in a consistent way. Selenium 3 can be used with any browser that supports this standard.
Overall, the architecture of Selenium 3 WebDriver is designed to provide a flexible and extensible framework for web automation testing.
Selenium 4 Architecture
Selenium 4 WebDriver architecture is an improvement over its predecessor, Selenium 3. The architecture of Selenium 4 WebDriver has been redesigned to make it more stable, reliable, and scalable.
Here are some of the key changes in the Selenium 4 WebDriver architecture:
1. Selenium 4 is the latest version of Selenium, a tool for automating web browsers. It includes a number of new features and improvements, including a new architecture that enables direct communication between the client and server. This allows for more efficient use of resources and eliminates the need for an intermediate “driver” layer.
2. Chromium and Firefox are now first-class citizens: In Selenium 4, the WebDriver API for both Chromium and Firefox are now supported natively.
3. Improved support for mobile automation: The new architecture supports mobile automation out of the box.
4. Better support for reactive and non-blocking programming: Selenium 4 WebDriver now has better support for reactive and non-blocking programming, which allows for more efficient use of resources and faster test execution.
5. A more modular architecture: The new architecture is more modular, which makes it easier to extend and customize Selenium.
6. Improved performance: Selenium 4 WebDriver has improved performance due to changes in the communication protocol between the browser and the WebDriver server.
7. Support for more browsers: The new architecture also supports more browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and Safari. In addition, the RemoteWebDriver has been updated to support the W3C WebDriver standard.
Overall, the new architecture of Selenium 4 WebDriver offers improved performance, stability, and scalability, making it a more reliable and efficient tool for web automation testing.
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