Back, forward, and refresh in Selenium Python - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output after navigating back in Selenium?

Consider the following Selenium Python code snippet. What will be the current URL printed after executing driver.back()?

Selenium Python

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
import time

service = Service()
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service)
driver.get('https://example.com/page1')
driver.get('https://example.com/page2')
driver.back()
print(driver.current_url)
driver.quit()

A https://example.com/page2

B https://example.com/page3

C https://example.com

D https://example.com/page1

💡 Hint

The back() method navigates to the previous page in the browser history.

After navigating to page1 and then page2, calling driver.back() returns the browser to page1, so current_url is https://example.com/page1.

❓ assertion

intermediate

Which assertion correctly verifies page refresh in Selenium?

You want to verify that refreshing the page reloads the same URL. Which assertion correctly checks this after calling driver.refresh()?

Selenium Python

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

service = Service()
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service)
driver.get('https://example.com')
url_before = driver.current_url
driver.refresh()
url_after = driver.current_url

# Which assertion below is correct?

A assert url_before == url_after

B assert url_before != url_after

C assert driver.title == 'Refreshed Page'

D assert driver.current_url == 'https://example.com/refresh'

💡 Hint

Refreshing reloads the same page, so URL should not change.

After refresh, the URL remains the same, so url_before and url_after should be equal.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this Selenium code not navigate when calling driver.forward()?

Examine the code below. Why does calling driver.forward() not navigate forward?

Selenium Python

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service

service = Service()
driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service)
driver.get('https://example.com/page1')
driver.forward()

A Because driver.forward() is deprecated and removed in Selenium 4

B Because driver.forward() requires a URL argument

C Because there is no forward history to navigate to

D Because driver.forward() must be called before driver.get()

💡 Hint

Think about browser history and when forward navigation is possible.

driver.forward() moves forward in browser history. Since no forward page exists after first navigation, calling it does nothing.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

What is the effect of calling driver.back() twice in Selenium?

If you navigate through three pages in order: page1, page2, page3, then call driver.back() twice, which page will be displayed?

A page2

B page1

C page3

D An error occurs because back() can only be called once

💡 Hint

Each back() moves one step back in browser history.

Starting at page3, first back() goes to page2, second back() goes to page1.

❓ framework

expert

Which Selenium Python code snippet correctly waits for page refresh to complete before asserting URL?

You want to refresh the page and then assert the URL is unchanged. Which code snippet correctly waits for the page to reload before asserting?

A

from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC

url_before = driver.current_url
driver.refresh()
WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.url_to_be(url_before))
assert driver.current_url == url_before

B

url_before = driver.current_url
driver.refresh()
time.sleep(1)
assert driver.current_url == url_before

C

url_before = driver.current_url
driver.refresh()
assert driver.current_url == url_before

D

url_before = driver.current_url
driver.refresh()
WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.title_contains('Refreshed'))
assert driver.current_url == url_before

💡 Hint

Use explicit waits to ensure page reload completes before assertions.

Option A uses WebDriverWait with expected condition url_to_be to wait until the URL matches the expected one after refresh, ensuring the page reload is complete before asserting.