Python environment setup in Selenium Python - Build an Automation Script

Verify Python Selenium environment setup by opening a browser and navigating to example.com

Preconditions (4)

Step 1: Open a terminal or command prompt

Step 2: Create a new virtual environment named 'venv' using 'python -m venv venv'

Step 3: Activate the virtual environment

Step 4: Install Selenium package using 'pip install selenium'

Step 5: Write a Python script that imports Selenium WebDriver

Step 6: In the script, initialize Chrome WebDriver with the correct path to ChromeDriver

Step 7: Use the driver to open the URL 'https://example.com'

Step 8: Verify that the page title contains the word 'Example Domain'

Step 9: Close the browser

✅ Expected Result: The script runs without errors, opens Chrome browser, navigates to https://example.com, verifies the page title contains 'Example Domain', and closes the browser

Automation Requirements - unittest with Selenium WebDriver

Assertions Needed:

Page title contains 'Example Domain'

Best Practices:

Use explicit waits if needed

Use setUp and tearDown methods for environment setup and cleanup

Use virtual environment for package isolation

Use correct ChromeDriver path

Handle exceptions gracefully

Automated Solution

Selenium Python

import unittest
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC
import sys

class TestPythonEnvironmentSetup(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        # Path to your chromedriver executable
        chromedriver_path = './chromedriver'  # Adjust path as needed
        service = Service(chromedriver_path)
        self.driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service)
        self.driver.maximize_window()

    def test_open_example_com(self):
        self.driver.get('https://example.com')
        # Wait until title contains 'Example Domain'
        WebDriverWait(self.driver, 10).until(EC.title_contains('Example Domain'))
        title = self.driver.title
        self.assertIn('Example Domain', title, f"Page title was '{title}' but expected to contain 'Example Domain'")

    def tearDown(self):
        self.driver.quit()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

This test script uses Python's unittest framework and Selenium WebDriver to automate the manual test case.

setUp(): Initializes the Chrome WebDriver before each test. The Service object is used to specify the path to the ChromeDriver executable. The browser window is maximized for better visibility.

test_open_example_com(): Opens https://example.com and waits explicitly up to 10 seconds for the page title to contain 'Example Domain'. Then it asserts that the title contains the expected text.

tearDown(): Closes the browser after the test to clean up resources.

This structure ensures environment setup and cleanup are handled properly, and the assertion verifies the environment is correctly set up to run Selenium tests.

Common Mistakes - 4 Pitfalls

Not activating the virtual environment before installing Selenium

Using hardcoded absolute paths for ChromeDriver without considering different machines

Not waiting for the page to load or title to be present before asserting

Not closing the browser after test execution

Bonus Challenge

Now add data-driven testing to open three different URLs and verify their titles

Show Hint