Selenium series: implicit and explicit waits

The article explores the challenges of testing dynamic web elements using Selenium WebDriver, particularly in the context of Single Page Applications (SPAs) that frequently update elements asynchronously. It highlights the limitations of using simple methods like Thread.sleep() to wait for elements to appear, as they are unreliable in real-world applications where element creation is unpredictable. Instead, it emphasizes the use of WebDriver's implicit and explicit waits to handle such scenarios effectively. Implicit waits apply a global timeout for finding elements, while explicit waits allow for more granular control by specifying conditions under which an element should be interacted with, such as ensuring it is clickable. Through examples, the article demonstrates how these waits can be implemented in a test framework, explaining that explicit waits provide more robust and reliable testing solutions by allowing tests to wait for specific states of elements, unlike implicit waits that only check for element presence.