Using Cloud tools for cross-browser testing running tests in the Cloud

We set up a local Grid in previous recipes to run the tests for cross-browser testing. This requires setting up physical or virtual machines with different browsers and operating systems. There are costs and efforts needed get the required hardware, software, and support to run the test lab. You also need to put in effort to keep this infrastructure updated with the latest versions and patches, and so on. Not everybody can afford these costs and effort.

Instead of investing and setting up a cross-browser test lab, you can easily outsource a virtual test lab to a third-party cloud provider. The Sauce Labs and BrowserStack are leading cloud-based cross-browser testing cloud providers. Both of these have support for over 400 different browser and operating system configurations including mobile and tablet devices, and support running Selenium WebDriver tests in their cloud.

In this section, we will set up and run a test in...