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Why Should I Run My Selenium Tests in Headless?

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Headless testing is greatly underutilized – here are three quick ways it can increase performance

Selenium has grown to be one of the most popular automation tools available today. It automates many tasks needed for online testing, including checking titles, navigating pages, clicking links, and much more. Many developers already use the full set of capabilities Selenium offers, but few know about running their tests in headless browsers. And even fewer actually deploy this approach in their daily testing. With headless testing you can increase your testing performance to an all-time high.

What is Headless testing?

Headless testing is simply running your Selenium tests using a headless browser. It operates as your typical browser would, but without a user interface, making it excellent for automated testing.

How does Headless testing benefit developers?

There are several benefits, actually. They can create new testing opportunities, as well as accelerate tests you’re already running.

Benefits include:

  • Greater testing reach
  • Improved speed and performance
  • Multitasking

Greater testing reach

When running Selenium tests, you typically need a machine that supports the graphics of the web browser that you’re testing on. With headless testing we get rid of this need and open up a whole new set of devices to test on. Ex. Servers, docker containers, etc.

Improved speed and performance

Selenium tests can take a while to complete, due to elements on a page that the browser needs to load. Headless testing gets rid of this load time, allowing you to cut your testing times significantly. In our tests with headless testing, we’ve seen a 30% reduction of test execution times. And you can use other techniques, like running more tests in parallel, to amplify that benefit.

Multitasking

Running normal Selenium tests take up your screen time, keeping you from being able to accomplish anything else on that device. With the UI disabled, headless testing lets you continue to use your computer while the tests execute in the background.

In our conversations with customers, we’ve found that headless testing has let developers experience all of these benefits – and many more!

How have you used headless testing to improve your processes? And where do you see opportunities to take advantage of them? Respond in the comments!

To help you get started Headless testing with CrossBrowserTesting, visit our help page: Headless Testing Documentation

Firefox Quantum Rivals Chrome to be Best in Class Browser

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Mozilla Firefox Quantum

The competition is heating up between the world’s most popular browser, Google Chrome, and underdog, Firefox.

With Mozilla’s new release of Firefox Quantum, which is the biggest Firefox update in 13 years, they’re hoping to capture a few thousand users and finally convince them to set a new browser as their default.

What’s so great about Firefox Quantum that Mozilla is so sure people will switch? For one, it’s supposed to be really fast, as in twice as fast as the previous Firefox version and substantially faster than Chrome.

Firefox Quantum will also be 30 percent lighter than Chrome with smaller RAM usage, meaning that opening more tabs won’t take up as much memory.

This isn’t just a nice perk, it’s actually been a complaint of Chrome users for some time, which means that those who relish the freedom to multi-task to their heart’s desire can open tab after tab on Firefox Quantum without affecting performance.

Mozilla substantial improvement to Firefox’s speed and weight is all thanks to the next-generation multi-core processor as well as more than 700 contributing authors and 80 volunteers.

In addition, Firefox Quantum features fresh UI and customizable toolbar including Pocket recommendations, Night Mode, and other free add-ons and extensions that are “making Chrome look old”. Plus, now you can sync your devices through Firefox and share access to passwords, bookmarks, tabs, history, etc. between your desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

This sleek new design is due to something Mozilla calls the Photon initiative, where researchers extracted data about what people expect from their browser experience, which apparently includes a cartoon octopus.

With Firefox Quantum proving its worth in speed, space, and design, we can expect to see a larger percentage of users adopting the browser and visiting the web from Firefox on multiple devices in the coming months.

Testers and devs that solely run their web application on Chrome or Safari will be missing out on understanding how their application responds Firefox’s new code base, which changed by 75 percent for this major release.

We won’t tell you to update your browser or abandon Google Chrome, but we will suggest adding a Firefox Quantum configuration to your cross-browser testing as it rises in popularity.

If you do want to switch from Chrome to Firefox, here’s how to do it in 2 minutes. For the die-hard Chrome users, sign up for a free trial or log into your CrossBrowserTesting account now to test Firefox Quantum without updating your browser.

Firefox 52: A Look Inside Mozilla’s Latest Release

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Firefox 52

Firefox

We always keep an eye out for updates and new releases in the browser and testing community. As one of the top browsers, Firefox 52 promises a few new features that will surely excite developers.

Highlights include:

  • Inclusion of WebAssembly – The most noteworthy feature of Firefox 52, in our opinion, is the added support for WebAssembly, a low-level programming language that will increase the performance of Javascript apps to make them run at “near-native speed.” WebAssembly has been in development since 2015 with contributors from Apple and Microsoft, so it must be good. We look forward to WebAssembly bringing improved performance to complex web apps, software libraries and intensive gaming like VR and augmented reality without needing plugins.
  • Exclusion of NPAPI plugins – Goodbye insecure Netscape Plugin API including Java, Silverlight and Acrobat, though this should come as no surprise since Mozilla has been telling everyone it would happen since October 2015. Flash will still be supported in 52, but we have a feeling Firefox will follow Safari’s lead and fade that out soon, too.
  • New Security Updates – Firefox 52 is also working towards patching up 28 critical security vulnerabilities (don’t get those numbers confused). Non-secure HTTP pages now display a distinct “This connection is not secure” note when you click to login or enter credit card information. Additionally, the Strict Secure Cookies specification ensures “Untrusted Connection” will show up if you encounter websites with certifications tied to the insecure SHA-1 algorithm to prevent cookies that are falsely attributed as secure. Thanks for the heads-up.
  • An Answer for Captive Portals – Trouble accessing WiFi? Firefox’s update promises improved WiFi login to captive portals at mobile hotspots to answer hard to find login pages that aren’t being detecting by your OS. Now, those portals will be detected automatically and you’ll be notified to log in.
  • Matching Developer Interests – Firefox 52 enabled CSS Grid Layout, which defines 18 new CSS properties and is a more simple way to code layout patterns, while boasting to open “a world of new possibilities for graphic design.” Bonus points: the Grid Inspector Tool and a redesigned Responsive Design Mode tool will be popular features, as well.

To view a complete breakdown of Firefox 52.0’s new, fixed, changed and unresolved features, take a look at the Release Notes.