What are Selenium headless browsers and how do they work?

What are Selenium headless browsers and how do they work?

Selenium headless browsers are web browsers without a graphical user interface. They allow you to run tests and automate web applications in a lightweight manner, which is useful for continuous integration and testing environments.

Can you give me an example of how to set one up?

Sure! To set up a headless browser using Selenium in Python, you can use the following code:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

options = Options()
options.headless = True

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
driver.get('http://example.com')
print(driver.title)
driver.quit()

What are the advantages of using headless browsers?

The advantages include faster execution, reduced resource consumption, and the ability to run tests in environments without a display, making it ideal for automated testing.

Are there any limitations I should be aware of?

Yes, some limitations include potential differences in rendering compared to full browsers, and certain JavaScript-heavy applications may not behave as expected in headless mode.