My $.02
I have found the unittests invaluable for leaning a Watir as
well as automation test case structure. I have ripped-off…borrowed…some
much from that source, and customized for my need, I can’t even begin to
tell you! The learning curve can be steep down the automation path, but
if you are like me and have to repeat running test cases that you know could be
automated, when it is worth it! Especially if you don’t get enough
time to adequately test what you have to right now, using ‘personal slaves’
like Watir, Selenium, Ruby, etc, to help you do your job better, is working
smarter not harder!
A recurring theme throughout this tread is to start small—and
oh how true that is. Start out small, if you have text fields on your
page look at the unittests for text fields (textfileds*.rb and
textAreafields*.rb), see how to use them and swipe whatever code you find
useful—changing attribute names to match you’re your target
test. Get that working and then expand. Before you know it you will
have a solid group of reusable tests. You can always ‘refactor’
your test as your skills improve. Two very useful Watir methods I have
found are “show_all_objects” and “flash” you can find
these listed in the Watir API doc installed with Watir.
One last note, monitor this site and you will see postings
of utilities, code snippets, better ways of doing things, breakthroughs others
have, links to useful resources, etc. Whenever I see something I think
might be useful now or later, I save it off, name it something useful I will
remember later, and keep it a working folder—and use it all the time.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Paul Carvalho
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006
9:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Wtr-general] Are there
any References to Ruby/Watir written byTesters?
Hello there, before everyone jumps all over me, please
allow me to explain..
I have been evaluating Ruby and Watir for about a week now and I think it will
do what we want it to. Not completely sure yet -- there are still some
features to check out, but it's looking good.
One thing that I have noticed is that it has been a struggle for me to do what
I want with Ruby and Watir. That's because all the references are geared
towards programmers and not testers. The Ruby Cheat Sheet is _almost_
close to being an exception. The only reference book I know is called
"Programming Ruby, The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide"... *not*
something like "Testing with Ruby, The Pragmatic Tester's Guide."
You see, I know what I want to test, but the documentation is not structured in
such a way as to help me accomplish that. It's kind of like wanting to
drive to a different city and all I have for reference is a book with a
description of all the road signs. So, if I didn't already know what
direction to head in and the general rules of the road, the documentation alone
certainly wouldn't help me get there.
If I didn't have any prior programming experience and some familiarity with OO
design, I'm pretty sure that I would have given up on evaluating Ruby &
Watir after the first day. I'm persistent, if nothing else, and sometimes
it pays off. Actually, if it weren't for this mailing list, I'm pretty
sure that I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have. (Thank you all for
your time and help, by the way.) The technical API reference is just
about next to useless for me and I may as well be reading an Auto Mechanic's
Guide in Esperanto.
Quoting from the "Forward" of the "Pragmatic Programmer's Guide",
"Ruby is designed to make programming not only easy, but also fun. It
allows you to concentrate on the creative side of programming, with less
stress." Hmm, ya, that's nice. I don't really care about the
creative side of programming. I'm pretty sure that I'm being paid to be a
creative *tester*, and not a creative programmer. Does Ruby/Watir help me
do that? No, not really. I still haven't figured out how to
structure a decent test case in Watir, let alone script it.
I believe that there currently is a big gap between the users of Ruby &
Watir and the rest of the Tester community who could probably be making use of
it. The Ruby and Watir languages just aren't translated into
Tester-speak.
Does anyone know of any efforts, either planned or in-progress, to address this
gap? If so, I would be very interested in participating in the review of
the documentation. Heck, if I had the time and a lot more experience with
Ruby & Watir, I'd write it myself!
Please don't take this as a slight against Watir. I think that Watir is a
tremendously important framework for Ruby, and without it I *know* that I
wouldn't be evaluating Ruby right now. (Excellent job on the part of the
developers and contributors who continue to improve and expand the framework.
Please keep up the good work.) I just think that it would likely be more
popular if the documentation was less programmer-centric. I know it would
help me be more productive.
Thoughts?
Paul.
