In this Python Selenium article we want to learn about Implicit and Explicit Waits in Python Selenium, When automating web interactions using Python Selenium, timing is important. Sometimes, elements on a web page may not load immediately, and it leads to synchronization issues between the automation script and the webpage. To address this, Selenium offers two types of waits: implicit and explicit waits. In this article, we are going to talk about implicit and explicit waits in Python Selenium, their differences, and when to use each.
To work the examples of this tutorial you need some requirements, first you should have installed Python in your system, then we need to install Python Selenium and you can use pip for that like this.
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pip install selenium |
Note: You can download the drivers from here.
Python Selenium Implicit Waits
Implicit waits tell the Selenium WebDriver to wait for a certain amount of time when trying to find an element or perform an action. if the element is not immediately available, Selenium will wait for the specified time before throwing an exception. This wait is applied globally to all elements.
For setting an implicit wait in Selenium, we need to set the implicitly_wait() method on the driver object like this.
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from selenium import webdriver # Launch the browser driver = webdriver.Chrome() # Set the implicit wait to 10 seconds driver.implicitly_wait(10) # Open Google.com driver.get("https://www.google.com") # Perform actions after the implicit wait # ... |
In this example, we set the implicit wait to 10 seconds. If any element is not immediately found when performing actions on the web page, Selenium will wait for up to 10 seconds before raising a NoSuchElementException exception.
When to Use Implicit Waits
Implicit waits are suitable for scenarios where you expect elements to appear after a certain amount of time consistently. However, they may not be ideal for situations where elements load dynamically or where you need more control over wait times.
Python Selenium Explicit Waits
Explicit waits are more granular and allows us to define specific conditions to wait for before proceeding with further actions. we can specify conditions such as element visibility, element clickability or custom conditions defined by us.
For using an explicit wait in Selenium, we need to import the WebDriverWait and expected_conditions classes like this.
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from selenium import webdriver from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By # Launch the browser driver = webdriver.Chrome() # Open Google.com driver.get("https://www.google.com") # Set the explicit wait to 10 seconds wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10) # Wait for the search input element to be visible search_input = wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.NAME, "q"))) # Perform actions after the element is visible search_input.send_keys("Selenium") # ... |
In this example, we have created an instance of WebDriverWait with a timeout of 10 seconds. after that we have used the until() method with the desired expected condition. In here we wait until the search input element with the name q is visible on the page. Once the element is visible, we can proceed with further actions.
When to Use Explicit Waits
Explicit waits are ideal for scenarios where you need more control over wait times or when dealing with dynamic content that may take variable amounts of time to load. They allows you to specify conditions and handle them accordingly, and it provides more flexibility and reliability in your automation scripts.
This is the complete code for this article
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from selenium import webdriver from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By # Implicit Wait def implicit_wait_example(): # Launch the browser driver = webdriver.Chrome() # Set implicit wait to 10 seconds driver.implicitly_wait(10) # Open Googl.com driver.get("https://www.google.com") # Perform actions after implicit wait # ... # Close browser driver.close() # Explicit Wait def explicit_wait_example(): # Launch th browser driver = webdriver.Chrome() # Open Google.com driver.get("https://www.google.com") # Set the explicit wait to 10 seconds wait = WebDriverWait(driver, 10) # Wait for the search input element to be visible search_input = wait.until(EC.visibility_of_element_located((By.NAME, "q"))) # Perform actions after the element is visible search_input.send_keys("Selenium") # Close the browser driver.close() # Run the examples implicit_wait_example() explicit_wait_example() |
FAQs about Implicit and Explicit Waits in Python Selenium:
Q: What are implicit and explicit waits in Python Selenium?
A: Implicit and explicit waits are mechanisms provided by Selenium to handle timing issues in automation scripts. Implicit waits wait for elements to appear globally, while explicit waits wait for specific conditions to be met for individual elements.
Q: When should I use implicit waits in Selenium?
A: Implicit waits are suitable for scenarios where elements typically appear after a consistent amount of time. They are applied globally and are useful when you expect delays in element visibility across your entire automation script.
Q: How do I set an implicit wait in Python Selenium?
A: You can set an implicit wait using the implicitly_wait() method of the WebDriver instance. For example, driver.implicitly_wait(10) sets an implicit wait of 10 seconds.
Q: What are the drawbacks of using implicit waits in Selenium?
A: One drawback of implicit waits is that they can lead to longer overall execution times, as they wait for elements globally regardless of whether they are needed immediately or not. They may also mask synchronization issues and make debugging more challenging.
When should I use explicit waits in Selenium?
A: Explicit waits are suitable for scenarios where you need more control over wait times or when dealing with dynamic content that may take variable amounts of time to load. They allows you to wait for specific conditions to be met for individual elements.
How do I implement an explicit wait in Python Selenium?
A: Explicit waits in Selenium are implemented using the WebDriverWait class along with an expected condition. You specify the maximum wait time and the condition to wait for, such as element visibility or presence.
Q: Can I use both implicit and explicit waits in the same Selenium script?
A: Yes, you can use both implicit and explicit waits in the same Selenium script. However, it’s essential to use them carefully to avoid unnecessary delays and ensure efficient synchronization with web elements.
Learn More on Python Selenium
- Python Selenium Web Scraping
- Test Automation with Python Selenium
- Python Selenium WebDriver Tutorial
- Browser Interaction in Python Selenium
- Browser Profiles in Python Selenium
- Python Selenium Frames
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