Hello, I'm making a case for Watir-WebDriver at work, and I'd like your insights. First, a little background:
Automated front end testing is going to be owned by the QA department. We're a small group of QAs, some more technical than others, but none of us are programmers. Over the past three months I have been developing a Watir-WebDriver codebase. It's coming along and I have some reusable code that is now running hourly on a continuos integration. Lately my work has garned some attention, and I find myself in a tough position. On one hand, people are enthused. On the other hand, they are curious about using the Python bindings to use WebDriver. The reason is, there are more devs that know Python (one dev in particular has done a fair amount of Selenium WebDriver work in Python), and a few of the QAs know Python too. They seem to think this is a language issue, and while I'm biased cause I love Ruby, my argument is that the Watir API simply outclasses the Selenium bindings (including the Ruby bindings!). I don't want this to turn into a Python vs. Ruby conversation, but I'd like some insight on the Selenium WebDriver bindings vs Watir-WebDriver. What are some things that the Selenium bindings (particularly Python) do well? What about Watir-WebDriver? Since we're not programmers, and we will likely not hire programmers for QA, my reasons for using Watir-WebDriver are largely due to the simplicity and directness of it. It's very easy to get up and running, and therefore it would be easy to train in new QAs and have them grok the codebase. I've compared Watir-WebDriver code to Selenium Python code and it's just staggering how much easier and more natural the Watir-WebDriver code flows. I've also written simple tests with the Selenium Python bindings and, in my opinion, it's not nearly as intuitive and requires a lot more code to do the same thing. It doesn't hurt that the Watir community is awesome - that really fuels the fire. Basically, my job is to stick up for Watir-WebDriver. I firmly believe that it's the best way to use WebDriver, and I also believe it has a great future. I'm looking for any insights you have. Thanks. -- Before posting, please read http://watir.com/support. In short: search before you ask, be nice. watir-general@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/watir-general watir-general+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
