Automation testing is essential in today’s software world, but building a reliable and maintainable test system isn’t always easy. We’ve all encountered actual problems when working on several projects, such as unstable tests in CI/CD pipelines, frequent UI changes, and random failures.

With tools like Python, Behave (BDD), Selenium, Allure, and Postman, we can solve these challenges and improve the speed, stability, and usability of my tests.
In this blog, we’ll explore key problems and practical solutions to build smarter, more effective automation.

1. Unreliable Tests That Randomly Fail

Issue:While tests passed locally, they occasionally failed in continuous integration pipelines.
Solution:

• Used Selenium’s WebDriverWait in place of sleep(); Allure was used to capture runtime logs and screenshots.
• Separated unstable tests to execute independently in nightly builds

2. UI Modifications & Dynamic Locators

Issue:Existing XPath/CSS locators were broken by frontend modifications.
Solution:

• Worked with developers to add data-test-id characteristics for test stability; used reliable relative locators and fallback techniques

3. Organizing Test Data in Different Environments

Issue:Inconsistent data between UAT and Release causes test failures.
Solution:

• Externalized data in JSON or Excel
• Used the [UAT], [RELEASE], and other.ini config sections to manage environment-specific variables.

4. Slow Test Execution

Issue:Extended suites shorten feedback loops.
Solution:

• Tests were executed in parallel using tags and behave features.
• In CI, headless browser mode was enabled. Suites were categorized as regression, sanity, and smoke.

5. ChromeDriver and Chrome Version Inconsistency

Issue:CI tests were unsuccessful due to version mismatch errors: “Session not created: Only Chrome XX is supported by this version of ChromeDriver.”
Solution:

• Installed specified Chrome/ChromeDriver versions with Bash in CI;
• Using google-chrome –version and chromedriver –version for debugging;
• Using the selenium/standalone-chrome Docker image is an option.

6. Handling Authentication and Sessions

Issue:Recurrent unsuccessful attempts to log in and expired sessions
Solution:

• Using BaseLogin to centralize login
• Using API tokens to expedite the authentication of incompatible apps

7. Cross-Browser Compatibility

Issue:Tests passed in Chrome but failed in Firefox/Edge
Solution:

• Created a configuration-driven browser choice
• Conditional UI logic was applied according to the capabilities of the browser.

8. Test Script Versioning

Issue:Older test scripts were broken by new app releases
Solution:

• Synced test branches with release cycles
• Used modular page objects and feature files with clear version support

9. Framework Maintenance Overhead

Issue:High refactoring effort with a growing test base
Solution:

• Adopted Page Object Model (POM) to reduce code duplication

Project Structure with POM in Behave
project/

│

├── features/                        # Contains feature files and step definitions

│   ├── login.feature                 # BDD feature file for login scenarios

│   └── steps/                       # Folder for step definitions

│      └── login_steps.py           # Step definitions for login feature

│

├── pages/                           # Contains Page Object files

│   ├──     init    .py                  # Python package initializer

│   └── login_page.py                # Page Object for login functionality

│

├── utils/                           # Utility functions/modules

│   └── browser_setup.py            # Setup for initializing browser driver

│

├── environment.py                   # Behave environment hooks (setup/teardown)

└── config.ini                       # Configuration file for environments

• Provided teammates with training and documented utilities.

10. CI/CD Pipeline Integration

Issue:Complex Jenkins configurations blocked automation adoption
Solution:

• Used shell scripts to automate reliance setup
• Passed tags and environment arguments via Jenkins CLI for flexible execution

11. Dynamic Excel-Based Test Data

Issue:Hardcoded data caused duplication and inconsistencies
Solution:

• Fetched data dynamically using openpyxl and pandas
• Integrated with Behave using scenario outlines and parameterization

12. File Upload Automation

Issue:Native OS dialogs aren’t controllable by Selenium
Solution:

• Used send_keys() directly on input type=”file”
  Python:
  upload_input = driver.find_element(By.XPATH, “//input[@type=’file’]”)
  upload_input.send_keys(“C:/path/to/file.pdf”)
• Avoided flaky tools like AutoIt or PyAutoGUI
• Used os.path.join() for OS-independent file paths

13. Headless Execution

Issue:Slower UI rendering CI
Solution:

• Headless Chrome with the appropriate flags:

–headless, –disable-gpu, –window-size=1920,1080

14. OS Compatibility: Windows vs Linux

Issue:Hardcoded paths and drivers didn’t work across the OS
Solution:

• Used os.path.join() and platform.system() to make paths dynamic
• Managed different drivers and binaries via the config

15. Environment Configuration

Issue:Manual switching of UAT/Release/Prod was error-prone
Solution:

• Organized .ini files with named sections
• Passed environment dynamically via CLI or CI variables

behave -D ENV=Testing –no-capture

16. Reporting for Non-QA Stakeholders

Issue:Raw logs weren’t understandable by devs/product managers
Solution:

• Integrated Allure reports for clean, visual insights
• Added metadata like environment and timestamps for traceability

Final Thoughts

Automation testing is more than just writing scripts — it’s about building smart, consistent systems that grow with your product. These challenges taught me to design modular tests, plan for real-world issues, and share results that matter.
By applying these lessons, you can eliminate unreliable tests, accelerate execution, and derive greater value from your automation efforts.
Let’s continue building better tests and faster pipelines, together.