Java & Selenium WebDriver Setup

Setting Up Your Java Selenium Environment

Let’s build a professional Selenium WebDriver automation framework with Java and Maven.

Prerequisites

Before we start, ensure you have:

• Java JDK 11+ installed
• IDE (IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse)
• Basic Java knowledge
• Understanding of web technologies

Java Development Kit Setup

First, verify Java installation:

java -version
javac -version

If not installed, download from Oracle or use:

# macOS with Homebrew
brew install openjdk@17

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk

# Windows with Chocolatey
choco install openjdk17

Maven Project Creation

Create a new Maven project structure:

mvn archetype:generate \
  -DgroupId=com.automation \
  -DartifactId=selenium-framework \
  -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart \
  -DinteractiveMode=false

cd selenium-framework

Maven Dependencies

Update pom.xml with Selenium and testing dependencies:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 
         http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    
    <groupId>com.automation</groupId>
    <artifactId>selenium-framework</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    
    <properties>
        <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
        <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
        <selenium.version>4.15.0</selenium.version>
        <testng.version>7.8.0</testng.version>
    </properties>
    
    <dependencies>
        <!-- Selenium WebDriver -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
            <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
            <version>${selenium.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        
        <!-- WebDriverManager for automatic driver management -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.github.bonigarcia</groupId>
            <artifactId>webdrivermanager</artifactId>
            <version>5.6.2</version>
        </dependency>
        
        <!-- TestNG -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.testng</groupId>
            <artifactId>testng</artifactId>
            <version>${testng.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        
        <!-- Logging -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
            <version>2.0.9</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.2.2</version>
                <configuration>
                    <suiteXmlFiles>
                        <suiteXmlFile>testng.xml</suiteXmlFile>
                    </suiteXmlFiles>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Project Structure

Organize your framework:

selenium-framework/
├── src/
│   ├── main/
│   │   └── java/
│   │       └── com/automation/
│   │           ├── pages/         # Page Objects
│   │           ├── utils/         # Utilities
│   │           └── config/        # Configuration
│   └── test/
│       ├── java/
│       │   └── com/automation/
│       │       └── tests/         # Test classes
│       └── resources/
│           ├── testng.xml
│           └── config.properties
├── pom.xml
└── README.md

First Selenium Test

Create a simple test to verify setup:

// src/test/java/com/automation/tests/FirstTest.java
package com.automation.tests;

import io.github.bonigarcia.wdm.WebDriverManager;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.testng.Assert;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;

public class FirstTest {
    private WebDriver driver;
    
    @BeforeMethod
    public void setUp() {
        WebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup();
        driver = new ChromeDriver();
        driver.manage().window().maximize();
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testGoogleTitle() {
        driver.get("https://www.google.com");
        String title = driver.getTitle();
        Assert.assertTrue(title.contains("Google"), 
            "Page title should contain 'Google'");
    }
    
    @AfterMethod
    public void tearDown() {
        if (driver != null) {
            driver.quit();
        }
    }
}

TestNG Configuration

Create testng.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "https://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">
<suite name="Selenium Test Suite" parallel="tests" thread-count="3">
    <test name="Smoke Tests">
        <classes>
            <class name="com.automation.tests.FirstTest"/>
        </classes>
    </test>
</suite>

Running Tests

Execute tests with Maven:

# Run all tests
mvn clean test

# Run specific test
mvn test -Dtest=FirstTest

# Run with specific browser
mvn test -Dbrowser=chrome

IDE Configuration (IntelliJ IDEA)

1. Import as Maven project
2. Enable TestNG plugin
3. Configure JDK 17+
4. Set up Run Configurations for TestNG

WebDriverManager Benefits

WebDriverManager automatically:

• Downloads the correct driver version
• Manages driver binaries
• Resolves compatibility issues
• Updates drivers when needed

// Automatic driver management
WebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup();  // Chrome
WebDriverManager.firefoxdriver().setup(); // Firefox
WebDriverManager.edgedriver().setup();    // Edge

Browser Options

Configure browser behavior:

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.addArguments("--start-maximized");
options.addArguments("--disable-notifications");
options.addArguments("--incognito");

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

Next Steps

Now that your environment is ready, we’ll explore WebDriver fundamentals in the next lesson.

Key Takeaways

✅ Maven manages dependencies and build lifecycle
✅ WebDriverManager eliminates manual driver setup
✅ TestNG provides powerful test execution features
✅ Proper project structure enables scalability