About the Talk (slides)
Web browsers are some of the most complex pieces of software we have on our computers. From relatively sparse beginnings, the web has evolved to become one of the most sophisticated and widely-adapted technologies of our age. The challenges of establishing the web as the next application platform also poses new demands on quality assurance of the web stack; from the browser itself to the tools and testing strategies themselves.
In this talk I will introduce you to how web browsers actually work, and why testing them is hard. I will demonstrate some testing strategies we use, and also give a practical introduction to some of the tools we’ve written. The talk will give you a broad introduction to testing in a complex environment that should be applicable and useful also in other contexts. Finally, I will argue why emulating actual user behaviour is quintessential to the success of your testing, and conversely, why asking humans to do a machine’s job is a bad idea.
About the Speaker
Andreas Tolf Tolfsen does browser automation at Opera Software, where he is a contributor on the OperaWatir and OperaDriver projects. He has a background as a browser tester and web developer, and has previously given talks on browser automation with WebDriver and Watir at various conferences in San Francisco and Oslo. He holds a BA in Musicology from the University of Oslo.
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