Alliance for Qualification
Released Version 1.0
12th April 2023
A4Q Selenium 4 Tester Foundation
Syllabus
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
,Copyright Notice
© A4Q Copyright 2023 - Copyright notice
All contents of this work, in particular texts and graphics, are protected by copyright. The use and
exploitation of the work is exclusively the responsibility of the A4Q. In particular, the copying or duplication
of the work but also of parts of this work is prohibited. The A4Q reserves civil and penalconsequences in
case of infringement.
Revision History
Version Date Remark
0.6 29.10.2022 Initial Merged layout
0.7 15.10.2022 Internally reviewed document
0.8 15.01.2023 TP reviewed document
0.9 26.03.2023 Beta version document
1.0 12.04.2023 Release version
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
,Table of Contents
Copyright Notice ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. 6
0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 7
0.1 Purpose of this syllabus ............................................................................................................... 7
0.2 Examinable objectives and cognitive levels of knowledge .......................................................... 7
0.3 The A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation exam .............................................................................. 7
0.4 Accreditation ................................................................................................................................ 8
0.5 Level of Detail .............................................................................................................................. 8
0.6 How this syllabus is organized..................................................................................................... 8
0.7 Business outcomes (BOs) ........................................................................................................... 9
0.8 Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 9
1 Introduction to Test Automation – 175 minutes ............................................................................. 10
1.1 Test automation in a nutshell ..................................................................................................... 10
1.1.1 Test automation at different test levels ...................................................................................... 13
1.1.2 Test automation tools & utilities ................................................................................................. 14
1.1.3 Test automation in the industry.................................................................................................. 15
1.2 Manual testing and test automation ........................................................................................... 17
1.2.1 Benefits & limitations of manual testing ..................................................................................... 17
1.2.2 Benefits & limitations of test automation.................................................................................... 18
1.2.3 Balancing manual and automated testing ................................................................................. 20
1.3 Test Automation Solutions Design ............................................................................................ 21
1.3.1 Page pattern automation solution .............................................................................................. 23
1.3.2 Data driven automation solution ................................................................................................ 24
1.3.3 Keyword driven automation solution .......................................................................................... 26
2 Automation Web Technologies – 250 minutes .............................................................................. 29
2.1 Webpage Architecture ............................................................................................................... 29
2.1.1 HTML ......................................................................................................................................... 29
2.1.2 XML ............................................................................................................................................ 32
2.1.3 Tree structure............................................................................................................................. 33
2.1.4 Rendering .................................................................................................................................. 35
2.1.5 Functional logic .......................................................................................................................... 35
2.2 Document Object Model ............................................................................................................ 36
2.2.1 Structure of a DOM .................................................................................................................... 36
2.2.2 Properties of DOM ..................................................................................................................... 38
2.3 Automation locators ................................................................................................................... 39
2.3.1 Types of locators ....................................................................................................................... 39
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
, 2.4 XPath ......................................................................................................................................... 41
2.4.1 XPath operators ......................................................................................................................... 42
2.4.2 XPath axes................................................................................................................................. 45
2.4.3 Absolute and relative XPath ...................................................................................................... 46
2.5 CSS Selector ............................................................................................................................. 47
3 Selenium Automation Tools – 155 minutes ................................................................................... 49
3.1 Overview of Selenium test automation ...................................................................................... 49
3.1.1 Contemporary Selenium automation ......................................................................................... 50
3.1.2 Selenium: powers and limitations .............................................................................................. 51
3.2 Flavors of the Selenium automation tool ................................................................................... 52
3.2.1 Selenium IDE ............................................................................................................................. 52
3.2.2 Selenium WebDriver .................................................................................................................. 53
3.2.3 Selenium Grid ............................................................................................................................ 54
3.3 Selenium WebDriver ecosystem ............................................................................................... 55
3.3.1 Architecture of the Selenium WebDriver ................................................................................... 55
3.3.2 Browser Controllers ................................................................................................................... 57
3.3.3 Headless test automation .......................................................................................................... 58
3.4 Selenium 4 ................................................................................................................................. 59
3.4.1 Architectural change in the Selenium WebDriver ...................................................................... 59
3.4.2 New Features............................................................................................................................. 60
4 Using Selenium WebDriver – 150 minutes ................................................................................... 64
4.1 Managing Selenium libraries ..................................................................................................... 64
4.2 Selenium WebDriver in action ................................................................................................... 66
4.2.1 WebDriver initialization .............................................................................................................. 66
4.2.2 Test Start ................................................................................................................................... 68
4.2.3 Test sssertions ........................................................................................................................... 68
4.2.4 Test termination ......................................................................................................................... 69
4.2.5 Test Reporting ........................................................................................................................... 69
4.3 Selenium GUI interface .............................................................................................................. 70
4.3.1 Interactions ................................................................................................................................ 71
4.3.2 GUI elements states .................................................................................................................. 73
4.4 Parallelism of tests ..................................................................................................................... 73
4.4.1 Selenium automation and performance testing ......................................................................... 73
4.5 Machine learning and test automation ....................................................................................... 74
4.5.1 Self-Healing tests ....................................................................................................................... 74
4.6 Best practices ............................................................................................................................ 75
4.6.1 Static and dynamic wait mechanism ......................................................................................... 76
4.6.2 Test Scripts Acceptance Criteria ............................................................................................... 77
4.6.3 Choice of selectors and locators ............................................................................................... 78
5 Implementation of Test Automation in an organization – 80 minutes ........................................... 79
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
Released Version 1.0
12th April 2023
A4Q Selenium 4 Tester Foundation
Syllabus
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
,Copyright Notice
© A4Q Copyright 2023 - Copyright notice
All contents of this work, in particular texts and graphics, are protected by copyright. The use and
exploitation of the work is exclusively the responsibility of the A4Q. In particular, the copying or duplication
of the work but also of parts of this work is prohibited. The A4Q reserves civil and penalconsequences in
case of infringement.
Revision History
Version Date Remark
0.6 29.10.2022 Initial Merged layout
0.7 15.10.2022 Internally reviewed document
0.8 15.01.2023 TP reviewed document
0.9 26.03.2023 Beta version document
1.0 12.04.2023 Release version
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
,Table of Contents
Copyright Notice ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. 6
0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 7
0.1 Purpose of this syllabus ............................................................................................................... 7
0.2 Examinable objectives and cognitive levels of knowledge .......................................................... 7
0.3 The A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation exam .............................................................................. 7
0.4 Accreditation ................................................................................................................................ 8
0.5 Level of Detail .............................................................................................................................. 8
0.6 How this syllabus is organized..................................................................................................... 8
0.7 Business outcomes (BOs) ........................................................................................................... 9
0.8 Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 9
1 Introduction to Test Automation – 175 minutes ............................................................................. 10
1.1 Test automation in a nutshell ..................................................................................................... 10
1.1.1 Test automation at different test levels ...................................................................................... 13
1.1.2 Test automation tools & utilities ................................................................................................. 14
1.1.3 Test automation in the industry.................................................................................................. 15
1.2 Manual testing and test automation ........................................................................................... 17
1.2.1 Benefits & limitations of manual testing ..................................................................................... 17
1.2.2 Benefits & limitations of test automation.................................................................................... 18
1.2.3 Balancing manual and automated testing ................................................................................. 20
1.3 Test Automation Solutions Design ............................................................................................ 21
1.3.1 Page pattern automation solution .............................................................................................. 23
1.3.2 Data driven automation solution ................................................................................................ 24
1.3.3 Keyword driven automation solution .......................................................................................... 26
2 Automation Web Technologies – 250 minutes .............................................................................. 29
2.1 Webpage Architecture ............................................................................................................... 29
2.1.1 HTML ......................................................................................................................................... 29
2.1.2 XML ............................................................................................................................................ 32
2.1.3 Tree structure............................................................................................................................. 33
2.1.4 Rendering .................................................................................................................................. 35
2.1.5 Functional logic .......................................................................................................................... 35
2.2 Document Object Model ............................................................................................................ 36
2.2.1 Structure of a DOM .................................................................................................................... 36
2.2.2 Properties of DOM ..................................................................................................................... 38
2.3 Automation locators ................................................................................................................... 39
2.3.1 Types of locators ....................................................................................................................... 39
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
, 2.4 XPath ......................................................................................................................................... 41
2.4.1 XPath operators ......................................................................................................................... 42
2.4.2 XPath axes................................................................................................................................. 45
2.4.3 Absolute and relative XPath ...................................................................................................... 46
2.5 CSS Selector ............................................................................................................................. 47
3 Selenium Automation Tools – 155 minutes ................................................................................... 49
3.1 Overview of Selenium test automation ...................................................................................... 49
3.1.1 Contemporary Selenium automation ......................................................................................... 50
3.1.2 Selenium: powers and limitations .............................................................................................. 51
3.2 Flavors of the Selenium automation tool ................................................................................... 52
3.2.1 Selenium IDE ............................................................................................................................. 52
3.2.2 Selenium WebDriver .................................................................................................................. 53
3.2.3 Selenium Grid ............................................................................................................................ 54
3.3 Selenium WebDriver ecosystem ............................................................................................... 55
3.3.1 Architecture of the Selenium WebDriver ................................................................................... 55
3.3.2 Browser Controllers ................................................................................................................... 57
3.3.3 Headless test automation .......................................................................................................... 58
3.4 Selenium 4 ................................................................................................................................. 59
3.4.1 Architectural change in the Selenium WebDriver ...................................................................... 59
3.4.2 New Features............................................................................................................................. 60
4 Using Selenium WebDriver – 150 minutes ................................................................................... 64
4.1 Managing Selenium libraries ..................................................................................................... 64
4.2 Selenium WebDriver in action ................................................................................................... 66
4.2.1 WebDriver initialization .............................................................................................................. 66
4.2.2 Test Start ................................................................................................................................... 68
4.2.3 Test sssertions ........................................................................................................................... 68
4.2.4 Test termination ......................................................................................................................... 69
4.2.5 Test Reporting ........................................................................................................................... 69
4.3 Selenium GUI interface .............................................................................................................. 70
4.3.1 Interactions ................................................................................................................................ 71
4.3.2 GUI elements states .................................................................................................................. 73
4.4 Parallelism of tests ..................................................................................................................... 73
4.4.1 Selenium automation and performance testing ......................................................................... 73
4.5 Machine learning and test automation ....................................................................................... 74
4.5.1 Self-Healing tests ....................................................................................................................... 74
4.6 Best practices ............................................................................................................................ 75
4.6.1 Static and dynamic wait mechanism ......................................................................................... 76
4.6.2 Test Scripts Acceptance Criteria ............................................................................................... 77
4.6.3 Choice of selectors and locators ............................................................................................... 78
5 Implementation of Test Automation in an organization – 80 minutes ........................................... 79
Version 2023
© A4Q Copyright 2023
