Find element by class name in Selenium Python - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ locator

intermediate

Identify the correct Selenium locator for class name

Which of the following Selenium Python code snippets correctly finds an element by its class name btn-primary?

A driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn-primary")

B driver.find_element(By.CLASS, "btn-primary")

C driver.find_element_by_class_name("btn-primary")

D driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, ".btn-primary")

💡 Hint

Use the modern Selenium syntax with By.CLASS_NAME for class selectors.

Option A uses the correct modern Selenium syntax with By.CLASS_NAME. Option A uses an invalid locator type 'By.CLASS'. Option A uses deprecated syntax no longer supported in Selenium 4+. Option A uses CSS selector which works but is not the direct class name locator.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of Selenium find_element by class name with multiple matches

Given the HTML below, what will driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "item") return?

Selenium Python

<div class="item">First</div>
<div class="item">Second</div>
<div class="item">Third</div>

A The last <div> element with class 'item' containing text 'Third'

B A list of all three <div> elements with class 'item'

C An error because multiple elements have the same class

D The first <div> element with class 'item' containing text 'First'

💡 Hint

find_element returns only one element, not a list.

find_element returns the first matching element found in the DOM. To get all matching elements, find_elements should be used.

❓ assertion

advanced

Correct assertion to verify element text found by class name

You found an element by class name message. Which assertion correctly verifies its text is exactly Success?

Selenium Python

element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "message")
text = element.text

A assert text.equals("Success")

B assert text == "Success"

C assert text.contains("Success")

D assert text is "Success"

💡 Hint

Use Python's equality operator to compare strings.

Option B correctly uses Python's equality operator '==' to compare strings. Option B is invalid syntax. Option B uses 'is' which checks identity, not equality. Option B uses a method not available on Python strings.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in Selenium code using class name locator

What error will this code raise?

element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn primary")

Selenium Python

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

# Attempt to find element by class name with space
element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn primary")

A SyntaxError

B NoSuchElementException

C selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSelectorException

D TypeError

💡 Hint

Class name locators cannot contain spaces because they represent a single class.

Using a class name with spaces is invalid because class names cannot contain spaces. Selenium raises InvalidSelectorException for this.

❓ framework

expert

Best practice for waiting for element by class name in Selenium

Which code snippet correctly waits up to 10 seconds for an element with class name loading-complete to appear before proceeding?

A WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until(EC.presence_of_element_located((By.CLASS_NAME, "loading-complete")))

B

time.sleep(10)
driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "loading-complete")

C driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "loading-complete") # No wait

D

driver.implicitly_wait(10)
driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "loading-complete")

💡 Hint

Explicit waits are preferred for waiting specific conditions.

Option A uses explicit wait with WebDriverWait and expected_conditions, which waits up to 10 seconds for the element. Option A blindly waits 10 seconds regardless of element presence. Option A does not wait at all. Option A sets implicit wait but explicit wait is more reliable for specific conditions.

Practice

1. What does the Selenium method find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "example") do?

easy

A. Finds elements by their ID "example".

B. Finds all elements with the class name "example" on the webpage.

C. Finds elements by their tag name "example".

D. Finds the first element with the class name "example" on the webpage.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the method purpose

   The method find_element locates a single element on the page.

2. Step 2: Identify the locator type

   Using By.CLASS_NAME means it looks for the first element with the given class name.

3. Final Answer:

   Finds the first element with the class name "example" on the webpage. -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   find_element + CLASS_NAME = first matching element [OK]

Hint: find_element with CLASS_NAME finds only the first matching element [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing find_element with find_elements (plural)
• Using class name but expecting multiple elements
• Mixing class name with ID or tag name locators

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to find an element by class name "btn-primary" using Selenium in Python?

easy

A. driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn-primary")

B. driver.find_element_by_class_name("btn-primary")

C. driver.find_element(By.CLASS, "btn-primary")

D. driver.find_element(By.CLASSNAME, "btn-primary")

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall the correct Selenium syntax

   In Selenium Python 4+, the recommended syntax is find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "class").

2. Step 2: Check each option for correctness

   driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn-primary") uses the correct locator By.CLASS_NAME and method find_element. Others use deprecated or incorrect locators.

3. Final Answer:

   driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "btn-primary") -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Use By.CLASS_NAME with find_element [OK]

Hint: Use By.CLASS_NAME with find_element, not old deprecated methods [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using deprecated find_element_by_class_name method
• Wrong locator names like CLASS or CLASSNAME
• Missing quotes around class name string

3. Given the HTML snippet:

<div class="alert success">Success!</div>
<div class="alert error">Error!</div>

What text will this Selenium Python code print?

element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "alert")
print(element.text)

medium

A. "Success!"

B. "Error!"

C. "Success! Error!"

D. Throws NoSuchElementException

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand find_element behavior

   It finds the first element matching the class name "alert" in the HTML order.

2. Step 2: Identify the first matching element

   The first <div> with class "alert success" contains text "Success!".

3. Final Answer:

   "Success!" -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   find_element returns first matching element's text [OK]

Hint: find_element returns first match only, so text is from first element [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming it returns all matching elements' text
• Confusing class names with multiple classes
• Expecting an error if multiple classes exist

4. What is wrong with this Selenium Python code snippet?

element = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, ".button")

medium

A. find_element should be find_elements to find class

B. Class name should not include the dot prefix "."

C. By.CLASS_NAME is not a valid locator

D. The class name must be uppercase

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the class name format

   When using By.CLASS_NAME, the class name should be given without any CSS selector symbols like ".".

2. Step 2: Identify the error in the code

   The code incorrectly includes a dot prefix ".button" which causes a failure to find the element.

3. Final Answer:

   Class name should not include the dot prefix "." -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Class name locator needs plain class name, no dot [OK]

Hint: Remove dot prefix when using By.CLASS_NAME locator [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Adding dot prefix like CSS selectors to class name
• Using find_elements when only one element is needed
• Assuming class names must be uppercase

5. You want to click the first button with class "submit-btn" on a page. Which code snippet correctly finds and clicks it using Selenium Python?

hard

A. button = driver.find_elements(By.CLASS_NAME, "submit-btn")
button.click()

B. button = driver.find_element(By.ID, "submit-btn")
button.click()

C. button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "submit-btn")
button.click()

D. button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, ".submit-btn")
button.click()

Solution

1. Step 1: Choose correct method to find single element by class

   Use find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "submit-btn") to get the first matching element.

2. Step 2: Call click() on the found element

   After locating the element, call click() to perform the click action.

3. Final Answer:

   button = driver.find_element(By.CLASS_NAME, "submit-btn")\nbutton.click() -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   find_element + CLASS_NAME + click() = correct usage [OK]

Hint: Use find_element with class name, then call click() on it [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using find_elements returns list, cannot call click() directly
• Using ID locator instead of class name
• Including dot prefix in class name