/webapp-selenium-testing

Wait Strategies Best Practices

Part of the webapp-selenium-testing skill. See SKILL.md for full context.

Related: this file was split from the original wait-strategies.md. See the other related files in this folder.

Quick Reference

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

// [no] Thread.sleep - NEVER!
Thread.sleep(5000);

// [no] Catching Exception to hide timing issues
try {
    element.click();
} catch (Exception e) {
    Thread.sleep(1000);
    element.click();
}

// [no] Using findElement without wait for dynamic content
WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("dynamic"));

// [no] Very long implicit wait
driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(Duration.ofSeconds(60));

// [no] Polling in a loop manually
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    if (element.isDisplayed()) break;
    Thread.sleep(500);
}

Best Practices Checklist

• Never use Thread.sleep()
• Use WebDriverWait with ExpectedConditions
• Set reasonable timeouts (10-15 seconds default)
• Use shorter waits for quick checks (3-5 seconds)
• Use longer waits for file uploads/downloads (30+ seconds)
• Create reusable wait methods in BasePage
• Handle TimeoutException gracefully when appropriate
• Use custom conditions for complex scenarios
• Avoid mixing implicit and explicit waits
• Wait before interacting, not after