What is the purpose of using the Singleton design pattern in test automation?

Singleton in test automation is used to ensure a single instance of a particular object throughout the entire test run. This is useful, for example, for:

• Managing the browser driver (WebDriver) — to avoid creating a new instance for each test and to reuse one.
• Centralized storage of configuration or settings.
• Reducing costs of resource initialization.

Example: a class that creates and returns a single instance of WebDriver, ensuring that all tests work with the same browser, which simplifies management and saves resources.