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Core Concepts
Beginner
Why Playwright over Selenium?
The Answer
Playwright offers significant advantages over Selenium. Key reasons: built-in auto-waiting (no explicit waits needed), native multi-browser support (Chromium, WebKit, Firefox), faster WebSocket-based protocol instead of HTTP, out-of-the-box parallel execution, and rich debugging tools like Trace Viewer.
Deep Dive Explanation
Selenium uses WebDriver HTTP protocol (slow, polling-based). Playwright uses WebSocket (persistent connection, event-driven). The net result: Playwright tests run 2-5x faster and are dramatically less flaky. Playwright also supports modern browser features (Shadow DOM, iframes, multiple tabs, clipboard) out of the box that require workarounds in Selenium.
example.spec.ts
// Playwright - no waits needed, auto-waits built-in
await page.locator('#submit').click(); // Waits for visible + enabled
// Selenium equivalent - manual waits required
WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, Duration.ofSeconds(10));
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("submit"))).click();