The difference between ".//*" and "//*" XPath?

Question

The difference between: 1: ".//*" and 2: "//*" XPath in the following: the first one means "from the current context i.e from this place/point". Do I get it right? What is the sense in such XPath: ".//a[contains(., 'some text')]"?

Answer 1

While using Selenium you can find elements using WebDriver right?

Java example: WebElement element = driver.findElement(...)

But you can also use element variable to look for elements in the context of this element. It will not search the whole DOM, it will limit the search to element.

Java example:

WebElement nestedElement = element.findElement(...);

That's where .// becomes handy. Because it tells xpath to use current context.

This will search in reduced context:

element.findElement(By.xpath(".//div"));

This will search through DOM, regardless of using element

element.findElement(By.xpath("//div"));