selenium - Difference between webdriver.firefox.marionette & webdriver.gecko.driver -

i learning selenium , have met problem.

i aware selenium supported old firefox version default without driver. , recent versions of firefox, have download driver , define using system.setproperty.

according link, firefox 45 , 46, start driver code this:

webdriver driver = new firefoxdriver(); 

my firefox version 45.5.1., above code still won't work. according link, have added

system.setproperty("webdriver.firefox.marionette","c:\\geckodriver.exe");

and worked.

then realized haven't installed geckodriver.exe on computer. see how goes, have changed code below.

system.setproperty("webdriver.firefox.marionette",""); 

it still works.

so, here comes first problem: happened? sure no geckodriver.exe exists on environment. if no location has been pointed, why should have set property?

also, have seen code

system.setproperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "/tools/marionette/wires.exe"); 

my second question difference between webdriver.gecko.driver , webdriver.firefox.marionette or wires.exeand geckodriver.exe?

up version 45 (pushed version 47), driver used automate firefox extension included each client. extension dropped, due change of policy requires extensions signed mozilla.

marionette new driver shipped/included firefox. driver has it's own protocol not directly compatible selenium/webdriver protocol.

the gecko driver (previously named wires) application server implementing selenium/webdriver protocol. translates selenium commands , forwards them marionette driver.

for java client, default behavior use gecko driver, can overridden use legacy extension driver webdriver.firefox.marionette property:

system.setproperty("webdriver.firefox.marionette", "false"); 

or marionette capability through firefoxoptions :

firefoxoptions options = new firefoxoptions()   .setlegacy(true);  webdriver driver = new firefoxdriver(options); // or remote server webdriver driver = new remotewebdriver(remoteurl, options.todesiredcapabilities()); 

or directly desiredcapabilities:

desiredcapabilities capa = desiredcapabilities.firefox(); capa.setcapability("marionette", false);  webdriver driver = new firefoxdriver(capa); // or remote server webdriver driver = new remotewebdriver(remoteurl, capa); 

and define location of gecko driver, either place driver in folder present in path environment variable, or define location in property webdriver.gecko.driver:

system.setproperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "c:\\geckodriver.exe"); 

or launch remote server property assigned in command line:

java -dwebdriver.gecko.driver="c:\\geckodriver.exe" -jar selenium-server-standalone-3.4.0.jar