How to automatically test Django apps

[Michael Herrmann]

Hi everyone,

I'm working for a startup called BugFree Software. We're launching a new Python product for web automation today and, since you are all doing web development with Python, I wanted to let you know about it.

Helium is a library that wraps around Selenium to simplify web automation. It does away with many of the technicalities involved with web scripting. For example: Here is a Selenium script. Can you guess what it does?

    >>> ff = Firefox()

    ...

    >>> text_area = ff.find_element_by_id("u_0_1q")

    >>> text_area.send_keys("Hello World!")

    >>> button = ff.find_element_by_class_name("_42g-")

    >>> button.click()

Here is the same script rewritten using Helium:

    >>> start_firefox()

    ...

    >>> write("Hello World!", into="Update Status")

    >>> click("Post")

Can you now guess what it does? That's right; It updates your Facebook status.

In an extended comparison that we were invited to write for the December issue of Professional Tester (professionaltester.com), we found that an example script automating Gmail took 66% fewer lines of code and 75% less effort using Helium than with Selenium alone.

You can find more information and download Helium from http://heliumhq.com. Any feedback would be highly appreciated.

Hoping to hear your thoughts and comments,

Michael Herrmann

heliumhq.com

[Larry Martell]

Is this open source?