What will happen in the background when you execute new FirefoxDriver()?

When you call new FirefoxDriver(), the following sequence happens in the background:

Step-by-step execution:

1. ✓

   geckodriver is located — Selenium finds the geckodriver executable via System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "path/to/geckodriver")

2. ✓

   geckodriver process starts — A new geckodriver process is launched on a local port (e.g., 4444 or random)

3. ✓

   Firefox binary is triggered — geckodriver launches the Firefox browser executable with default options

4. ✓

   New browser window opens — A fresh Firefox browser window appears with no extensions, no cookies, no history (clean profile)

5. ✓

   FirefoxDriver object is created — Java creates a FirefoxDriver instance that holds a connection to this browser via the WebDriver protocol (W3C JSON Wire Protocol)

6. ✓

   Session is established — A unique session ID is created, allowing commands to be routed to that specific browser instance

Code sequence:

System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "C://Drivers/geckodriver.exe");
// Step 1: Points to geckodriver binary

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
// Steps 2-6: geckodriver launches → Firefox opens → connection established

driver.get("https://example.com");
// HTTP command sent via geckodriver to Firefox

Architecture:

Java Test ←→ geckodriver ←→ Firefox Browser
(sends W3C commands) (translates to Marionette protocol)

Summary:

• ✓Firefox binary is triggered
• ✓Firefox browser opens with default options
• ✓FirefoxDriver object is created and connected to the browser
• ✓The driver is ready to receive commands