Your First Selenium Script

Create Your First Java Class

If you followed the previous tutorial, you should have a Maven project ready. Let's create a new Java class:

• In your project, right-click on src/main/java
• Select New → Class
• Name it MyFirstSeleniumScript
• Check "public static void main" and click Finish

Let's Write the Code – Step by Step

Step 1: Import Required Packages

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

Hold on… What are all these imports?

We need to import these packages to use WebDriver classes. If you're using an IDE like IntelliJ or Eclipse, it will prompt you to import them automatically.

What is a package, man?

Well… It is Java stuff. For now, you can think of Java package as a college library where there are sections for different book genres like Fiction, Technology etc. Each section consists of lots of books of that category. Similarly, a Java package is a placeholder for classes, interfaces, and methods.

Let me break down what we're importing:

• WebDriver – The main interface to control the browser
• WebElement – Represents elements on the page (buttons, text fields, etc.)
• By – Helps us locate elements on the page
• ChromeDriver – Implementation of WebDriver for Chrome browser

Step 2: Launch Chrome Browser

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

That's it? No System.setProperty or chromedriver path?

Exactly! In Selenium 4.6+, Selenium Manager handles everything automatically. It detects your Chrome version and downloads the matching ChromeDriver. How cool is that?

OK. Can you please tell me what that line of code is doing – WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

We are declaring object reference of WebDriver Interface and making it point to object of ChromeDriver Class.

Would you please sound less technical?

Well, we are creating an object of ChromeDriver and asking WebDriver to hold it tightly. 'WebDriver' has appointed 'driver' to do this job. Once that line gets executed, it will launch Chrome browser.

I want to know more about Java Classes, Objects and Object References. In fact, I want to know more about Java.

I would recommend going through any tutorial on Java basics. There are very good video courses available at Udemy that teach Java from the very basics. For now, just know that driver is your handle to control the browser.

Step 3: Maximize Browser Window

driver.manage().window().maximize();

This makes the browser window full-screen. It's a good practice to maximize the window before interacting with elements.

Step 4: Navigate to the Target Page

driver.get("https://cosmocode.io/automation-practice");

It will make the browser navigate to the URL passed to the get() method.

Step 5: Get Page Title

String pageTitle = driver.getTitle();
System.out.println("Page Title: " + pageTitle);

Step 6: Find and Fill the First Name Field

WebElement firstNameField = driver.findElement(By.id("firstname"));
firstNameField.sendKeys("John");

What's findElement doing here?

The findElement() method searches the page for an element that matches the given criteria. Here, we're looking for an element with id="firstname". Once found, we use sendKeys() to type text into it.

Step 7: Fill the Last Name Field

WebElement lastNameField = driver.findElement(By.className("lastname"));
lastNameField.sendKeys("Doe");

Step 8: Click the Submit Button

driver.findElement(By.id("submit_htmlform")).click();

Step 9: Close the Browser

driver.quit();

What's the difference between close() and quit()?

• close() – Closes only the current window
• quit() – Closes all windows and ends the WebDriver session

Always use quit() at the end of your test to properly clean up resources.

Complete Code

Put the complete code in one place, man. I don't have time to do copy-paste here and there.

Here you go –

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;

public class MyFirstSeleniumScript {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Launch Chrome browser
        WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
        
        // Maximize window
        driver.manage().window().maximize();
        
        // Navigate to practice page
        driver.get("https://cosmocode.io/automation-practice");
        
        // Print page title
        String pageTitle = driver.getTitle();
        System.out.println("Page Title: " + pageTitle);
        
        // Fill First Name
        WebElement firstNameField = driver.findElement(By.id("firstname"));
        firstNameField.sendKeys("John");
        
        // Fill Last Name
        WebElement lastNameField = driver.findElement(By.className("lastname"));
        lastNameField.sendKeys("Doe");
        
        // Click Submit button
        driver.findElement(By.id("submit_htmlform")).click();
        
        // Close browser
        driver.quit();
    }
}

Running the Script

Wait… I am not able to figure out how to run this script? I am completely new to Java.

There are several ways to do that:

In IntelliJ IDEA:

• Right-click on your Java class
• Select "Run 'MyFirstSeleniumScript.main()'"

In Eclipse:

• Right-click on the Class file in Project Explorer
• Select Run As → Java Application

You should see Chrome browser open automatically, navigate to the practice page, fill in the form fields, and then close. Congratulations, you've just run your first Selenium script! 🎉