How to Avoid Flaky Tests in Selenium

Flaky tests, which produce inconsistent results across different runs, pose a significant challenge to continuous integration (CI) systems by causing unpredictable pipeline failures. Such tests are not inherently linked to the testing technology but can be influenced by factors like application slowdowns, race conditions, and logic bugs. To mitigate these issues in Selenium, it is recommended to use the latest version of the tool, prefer official Selenium bindings, write generic locators, and employ implicit and explicit waits instead of hard waits. Additionally, setting appropriate timeout values is crucial to avoid flakiness, and using simple unit tests over complex end-to-end tests can reduce the likelihood of encountering flaky behavior. While it is impossible to completely eliminate flaky tests, identifying their root causes and implementing solutions can significantly minimize their occurrence, thus maintaining a stable CI pipeline.