Should I Use Explicit Waits Instead of Implicit Waits in Selenium WebDriver?

Explicit vs. Implicit Waits in Selenium Webdriver

Question:

Despite using Selenium's implicit wait, a particular element remains undetected. Would it be advisable to employ explicit waits instead?

Answer:

Yes, it is strongly recommended to always utilize explicit waits rather than implicit waits.

Implicit vs. Explicit Waits

Explicit Waits:

• Well-defined and documented behavior
• Executed locally in the programming language's context
• Applicable to any condition
• Result in either success or timeout error
• Can define conditions for element absence as success
• Customizable for delay between retries and exceptions to ignore

Implicit Waits:

• Behavior is vague and poorly documented
• Executed remotely within the browser's control
• Limited to "find element" methods
• Return either found or not found elements (after timeout)
• Cannot be customized beyond a global timeout

Advantages of Explicit Waits

• Greater flexibility in conditions that can be waited for
• Customized timeouts and exception handling
• Explicit and clear code with defined expectations

Example Code

Implicit Wait:

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

Explicit Wait:

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10);
WebElement myDynamicElement = wait.until(
  ExpectedConditions.presenceOfElementLocated(By.id("myDynamicElement")));

Conclusion

Implicit waits offer limited functionality and unreliable behavior. In contrast, explicit waits provide a comprehensive and customizable solution for dynamic website testing. Their benefits far outweigh their only disadvantage of slightly lengthier code. Therefore, the recommendation is to exclusively employ explicit waits for reliable and maintainable automated testing.

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