From e42aef0b705387b347ed9bfd383753c4a13f4b65 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: pallavigotwork Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2025 18:15:51 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] updated blogs for episode 4,6 ,7 --- .../2025/selenium-community-live-episode4.md | 141 ++++++++++++++++-- .../2025/selenium-community-live-episode6.md | 86 ++++++++++- .../2025/selenium-community-live-episode7.md | 137 ++++++++++++++++- 3 files changed, 337 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-) diff --git a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode4.md b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode4.md index e647aa3dc7a..7772196af25 100644 --- a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode4.md +++ b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode4.md @@ -10,17 +10,10 @@ description: > Selenium Community Live - Episode 4 --- -The fourth episode of Selenium Community Live happened on March 19th, 2025, with speaker **Michael Mintz**, event hosted by **Pallavi Sharma** +The fourth episode of Selenium Community Live happened on March 19th, 2025, with **Michael Mintz**, who is the creator of SeleniumBase. SeleniumBase is an all in one Browser Automation Framework, built over Selenium WebDriver Python bindings. The framework is well known and used +in the WebDriver Ecosystem community for testing, web scraping, web crawling and stealth purposes. You can watch the episode on YouTube here- **Episode 4 on YouTube** -or -You can watch the episode on LinkedIn here- **Episode 4 on LinkedIn** - -**Selenium Community Live - Episode 4** - -Michael Mintz is creator of Selenium Base, an all in one Browser Automation Framework, built over Selenium WebDriver Python bindings. The framework is well known and used -in the WebDriver Ecosystem community for testing, web scraping, web crawling and stealth purposes. -You can find out more about Selenium Base here - **Selenium Base** **Meet the Speakers:** @@ -28,13 +21,139 @@ You can find out more about Selenium Base here - **Michael Mintz** +# Insights from the Session + +In the fourth episode of Selenium Community Live, Michael Mintz, the creator of SeleniumBase, provides an in-depth look at his powerful web automation framework. + +## What is SeleniumBase? + +SeleniumBase is an open-source framework built on top of Selenium Python bindings, currently boasting over 9,000 GitHub stars. +It's not just a testing framework, rather a complete ecosystem that provides powerful features for various scenarios for browser automation. + +Key highlights include: +- **Test recorder** to record and playback tests +- **Advanced dashboards** and reporting capabilities +- **Integration with pytest** for powerful unit testing +- **500+ API methods** for comprehensive web automation +- **Multi-language support** with translations in 10 languages + +## Core Features Demonstrated + +### Enhanced Pytest Integration + +SeleniumBase seamlessly integrates with pytest, providing extensive command-line options. Michael demonstrated how you can: + +- Run tests with `--slow` mode to visualize test execution +- Use `--headless` for faster execution without browser UI +- Enable `--demo` mode to highlight actions and show real-time test progress +- Implement `--rs` (reuse session) to run multiple tests in the same browser window + +### Advanced Browser Management + +The framework provides sophisticated browser control options: + +```python +# Multiple browser support with easy switching +pytest my_test.py --edge +pytest my_test.py --firefox +pytest my_test.py --chrome-for-testing + +# Mobile device emulation +pytest my_test.py --mobile + +# Multi-threading capabilities +pytest my_test.py -n4 # Runs tests in 4 parallel browsers +``` + +### Stealth Mode and Captcha Bypass + +One of SeleniumBase's standout features is its ability to bypass Cloudflare captchas and other anti-bot measures through UC Mode (Ultra-Chrome Mode) and CDP Mode (Chrome DevTools Protocol Mode). This makes it particularly valuable for web scraping applications. + +### Comprehensive Reporting and Debugging + +SeleniumBase automatically generates detailed reports for failed tests, including: +- Screenshots of the last page visited +- Complete stack traces +- Browser and driver version information +- Detailed logs with timestamps +- Interactive HTML dashboards + +The framework also offers powerful debugging capabilities: +- `--pdb` stops at failure points for interactive debugging +- `--trace` enables line-by-line debugging from the start +- Automatic screenshot capture on test failures + +## Multiple Syntax Formats + +Michael showcased SeleniumBase's flexibility by demonstrating different syntax formats, including: + +1. **Traditional pytest format** with BaseCase inheritance +2. **SB pytest fixture** for fixture-based testing +3. **Page Object Model** integration +4. **Python context manager** for pure Python usage (no pytest required) +5. **BDD/Gherkin syntax** with behave runner +6. **Multi-language support** in Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish + +### Example Test Structure + +```python +from seleniumbase import BaseCase + +class TestExample(BaseCase): + def test_swag_labs(self): + self.open("https://www.saucedemo.com") + self.type("#user-name", "standard_user") + self.type("#password", "secret_sauce") + self.click('input[type="submit"]') + self.assert_element("div.inventory_list") + self.assert_exact_text("Products", "span.title") +``` + +## Advanced Capabilities + +### JavaScript Integration and Tours + +SeleniumBase includes a JavaScript injector that allows you to modify any website and create interactive tours. This feature enables: +- Custom website tours using IntroJS +- Dynamic content modification +- Advanced interactions beyond standard Selenium capabilities + +### CI/CD Integration + +The framework works seamlessly with GitHub Actions, providing XVFB support for headless Linux environments. Michael demonstrated running tests in the cloud with automatic secrets management for secure credential handling. + +### Multiple Use Cases + +SeleniumBase serves various automation needs: +- **Test Automation**: Comprehensive testing with enhanced reporting +- **Web Scraping**: Captcha bypass and stealth capabilities +- **Website Tours**: Interactive user onboarding +- **Data Collection**: Automated information gathering +- **UI Validation**: Advanced element interaction and verification + +## Getting Started + +SeleniumBase can be installed via pip and offers immediate value with its extensive command-line options and automatic waiting mechanisms. The framework eliminates many common Selenium pain points like flaky tests through built-in intelligent waits and retry mechanisms. + +For those interested in exploring SeleniumBase further, Michael provides several channels for community support: +- GitHub repository with comprehensive documentation +- Selenium Slack workspace (#seleniumbase channel) +- Dedicated Discord server with 700+ members +- YouTube channel with detailed tutorials and examples + +## Community Impact + +With its extensive feature set and active development, SeleniumBase represents a significant evolution in Python-based web automation. The framework's ability to handle everything from simple test automation to complex web scraping with captcha bypass makes it a versatile tool for developers and QA professionals alike. + + +--- + ## Watch the Recording Couldn’t join us live? Watch the entire episode here - 📹 Recording Link: [Watch the Event Recording on YouTube](https://youtube.com/live/FSH712hhHvo?feature=share) -To know more about Selenium Base, please follow the link -**Explore more on Selenium Base** +You can find out more about Selenium Base here - **Selenium Base** In case you were wondering what happened to episode 3, it was cancelled but will be scheduled in coming weeks. Thank you! Stay tuned as we bring the next! **Subscribe here to the Selenium HQ Official YouTube Channel.** diff --git a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode6.md b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode6.md index b82605e3dfe..77c8404e47e 100644 --- a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode6.md +++ b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode6.md @@ -10,23 +10,93 @@ description: > Selenium Community Live - Episode 6 --- -The sixth episode of Selenium Community Live happened on May 21st, 2025, with speaker **Luke Hill**, event hosted by **Pallavi Sharma** +The sixth episode of Selenium Community Live happened on May 21st, 2025, with **Luke Hill** who is a Lead QA Engineer at Dexters with extensive automation expertise across FinTech, E-Commerce, and Education sectors. A passionate open-source contributor, Luke owns site_prism (a Page Object Gem extending Capybara), serves on the Cucumber technical committee, and is a maintainer of Selenium. Known for his meticulous testing approach and ability to identify challenging edge cases, Luke consistently helps teams deliver more reliable code. His technical expertise in both frontend and backend testing makes him a valuable voice in the QA community. You can watch the episode on YouTube here- **Episode 6 on YouTube** -or -You can watch the episode on LinkedIn here- **Episode 6 on LinkedIn** -**Selenium Community Live - Episode 6** +**Meet the Speakers:** -Luke Hill is a Lead QA Engineer at Dexters with extensive automation expertise across FinTech, E-Commerce, and Education sectors. A passionate open-source contributor, Luke owns site_prism (a Page Object Gem extending Capybara), serves on the Cucumber technical committee, and is a maintainer of Selenium. Known for his meticulous testing approach and ability to identify challenging edge cases, Luke consistently helps teams deliver more reliable code. His technical expertise in both frontend and backend testing makes him a valuable voice in the QA community. +1. **Luke Hill** -Luke GitHub Profile is here - **Luke's GitHub** +# The Maintainer's Perspective: Insights from Selenium Community Live Episode 6 -**Meet the Speakers:** +### The Language Debate: Development vs Testing Stacks -1. **Luke Hill** +One of the most compelling points Luke raised challenges a common assumption in the testing community. The conventional wisdom that testing and development stacks must share the same programming language doesn't hold as much weight in today's containerized world. + +"With tools like Docker and Kubernetes, and CI/CD systems like Jenkins and GitHub Actions being standard in most companies, having the testing stack in the same language as development provides minimal benefits," Luke explained. "The real question should be: what language makes you most productive and comfortable as a tester?" + +This perspective is particularly relevant for teams considering Ruby for test automation. Ruby's expressiveness and ease of learning make it an excellent choice for testing, regardless of the application's underlying technology stack. + +### The Ruby Testing Ecosystem + +Luke walked us through the evolution of Ruby's testing ecosystem, highlighting how tools like Selenium, Capybara, Cucumber, and SitePrism work together synergistically: + +- **Selenium** provides the browser automation foundation +- **Capybara** adds a testing-focused abstraction layer +- **Cucumber** enables behavior-driven development +- **SitePrism** implements the page object model pattern + +This stack's success stems from these tools being designed to work together, creating a developer-friendly testing environment that's both powerful and maintainable. + +### The Maintainer's Challenge + +Luke provided candid insights into the challenges of maintaining open-source projects: + +**Community Expectations**: Balancing feature requests, bug fixes, and community support while maintaining the project's vision and stability. + +**Backwards Compatibility**: Making strategic decisions about when to introduce breaking changes, especially for widely-adopted libraries used across various industries and company sizes. + +**Volunteer Nature**: Most open-source work is voluntary, requiring careful balance between personal career growth and community contributions. + +**Multiple Project Coordination**: Many tools have symbiotic relationships, requiring coordination across different projects and maintainer teams. + +## Technical Deep Dive: SitePrism Architecture +Luke provided a fascinating look under the hood of SitePrism, demonstrating how the framework uses Ruby's metaprogramming capabilities to create a domain-specific language (DSL) for page objects. + +Key architectural features include: + +- **Declarative syntax** for defining page elements +- **Automatic method generation** for element interactions +- **Section support** for reusable page components +- **Scope management** for nested elements +- **Helper method creation** for common testing patterns + +This architecture allows developers to write clean, maintainable page objects with minimal boilerplate code, while the framework handles the complex WebDriver interactions behind the scenes. + +## Looking to the Future + +Luke shared his perspective on emerging trends in test automation: + +### Componentization +The rise of tools like Figma and Storybook is changing how applications are built, creating new testing challenges and opportunities around component libraries. + +### Accessibility Testing +While still evolving, accessibility testing represents a growing area of focus. Luke advocates for a manual-first approach to learning accessibility concepts before attempting automation. + +### Bidirectional Communication +Selenium's bidirectional capabilities promise to enable more sophisticated browser automation, including network interception, request mocking, and dynamic content manipulation. + +### AI Integration +Rather than replacing testers, AI will likely handle the laborious aspects of test creation while humans continue to manage architecture, review, and strategic decisions. + +## Contributing to Open Source + +For developers interested in contributing to projects like Selenium, Luke outlined a clear path: + +1. **Learn Git fundamentals** - Understanding version control is essential +2. **Choose a focus area** - Start with one language implementation rather than trying to contribute across all projects +3. **Understand the contribution process** - Each project has specific workflows for accepting contributions +4. **Start small** - Documentation improvements and bug fixes are great entry points + +## The Value of Community + +Throughout the session, Luke emphasized the symbiotic relationship between personal career growth and open-source contributions. Contributing to projects like Selenium, Cucumber, and SitePrism not only improves the tools that benefit the entire community but also develops skills that advance individual careers. + +"View open source as a learn and improve task," Luke advised. "If you improve those libraries, it improves the community, but it will also improve you as an individual." +--- ## Watch the Recording diff --git a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode7.md b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode7.md index 7bdb4360fa1..a052d9cdf19 100644 --- a/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode7.md +++ b/website_and_docs/content/blog/2025/selenium-community-live-episode7.md @@ -10,24 +10,145 @@ description: > Selenium Community Live - Episode 7 --- -The seventh episode of Selenium Community Live happened on June 19th, 2025, with speaker **Christian Bromann**, event was hosted by **Pallavi Sharma** +The Selenium Community Live seventh episode happened on June 19th, 2025 with **Christian Bromann**, creator of WebDriver.IO. He shared his vision on how AI agents and agentic workflows are reshaping the testing industry. As a project council member at the OpenJS Foundation, Christian brought valuable insights into the current state and future potential of AI in automation testing. You can watch the episode on YouTube here- **Episode 7 on YouTube** -or -You can watch the episode on LinkedIn here- **Episode 7 on LinkedIn** -**Selenium Community Live - Episode 7** -Christian Bromann is a seasoned software engineer currently working at OutSystems where he contributes to the StencilJS project, a popular web component framework. He's the driving force behind WebdriverIO, a leading test automation framework that has revolutionized browser testing for countless development teams worldwide. +**Meet the Speakers:** -Christian's GitHub Profile is here - **GitHub Profile** +1. **Christian Bromann** +## Understanding AI Agents and Agentic Workflows -**Meet the Speakers:** +The past two years have been transformative for AI, starting with ChatGPT's experimental launch and evolving into sophisticated agentic systems. But what exactly makes something "agentic"? -1. **Christian Bromann** +According to Christian, **agentic systems typically contain both non-deterministic and deterministic tasks**: +- **Non-deterministic paths**: Interactions with Large Language Models (LLMs) that produce varied outputs +- **Deterministic tasks**: Code execution that behaves predictably + +This distinction is crucial when applying AI to real-world applications. + +### Two Types of AI Workflows in Testing + +**1. LLM-Augmented Workflows** +- Use LLMs to analyze datasets with human oversight +- More deterministic and predictable outputs +- Limited autonomy but higher reliability for narrow tasks +- Example: Text processing and data analysis + +**2. Complete Agent Workflows** +- Agents with reasoning capabilities operating autonomously +- Less deterministic but capable of handling complex tasks +- Can work in unpredictable environments +- Example: V0.dev for coding React applications + +## Current Industry Landscape + +Christian explored several innovative companies leveraging AI for QA automation: + +**QA Wolf**: Combines both workflow types, allowing users to record playback sessions while providing fine-grained control through natural language commands during the recording process. + +**Momentic.ai**: A Y Combinator company building agents that generate entire automation workflows from single prompts, making test authoring remarkably simple. + +**Browser Use**: An open-source browser automation tool that evolved into its own company, enabling API-driven cloud browser automation. + +**Directus AI**: Recently announced as a ChatGPT-like interface with browser capabilities for data extraction and test generation. + +**Alumnium**: Alex's project integrating AI directly into Selenium, allowing commands like "do" or "check" within existing automation tests. + +## The Reality Check: Are We There Yet? + +Despite the exciting developments, Christian offers a measured perspective: **"We are not quite there yet."** + +Many AI testing platforms currently produce subpar results, including tests without assertions or unreliable automation scripts. Rather than replacing testers, AI is positioned to enhance existing workflows and capabilities. + +### Impact on the Testing Pyramid + +Christian predicts AI will reshape the traditional testing pyramid: + +- **Unit Testing**: May decrease in importance as developers write more AI-generated code +- **Integration and End-to-End Testing**: Will become more crucial for validating AI-generated code functionality +- **New Testing Categories**: AI-driven exploratory testing and intelligent monkey testing will emerge + +As Christian notes: *"There's no value in writing unit tests for code generated by AI, and no value in AI generating unit tests for AI-generated code."* + +## Practical Implementation: A Real-World Example + +Christian demonstrated a practical WebDriver.IO implementation that showcases AI-enhanced testing. Instead of writing multiple assertions, testers can use a single AI-powered command to validate application state: +```javascript +// Traditional approach with multiple assertions vs. +// AI-enhanced single validation +await browser.aiValidate("validate that I have three todo items shown on the page that are all grocery items"); +``` +This approach works by: +1. Capturing the application's accessibility tree and element properties +2. Passing this state to an LLM with a validation prompt +3. Receiving a true/false result with explanatory hints + +The key insight: **Whatever you provide as state to the LLM determines what the AI can reason about.** + +## Building Your Own Browser Agent + +For those interested in creating custom browser agents, Christian outlined a architecture involving: +- **Tool-calling agents** with access to browser actions (find, click, getText) +- **State observers** monitoring browser changes +- **Agent history** maintaining context of previous actions +- **Verification commands** for state validation + +However, he cautions about the trade-off between convenience and accuracy: *"The most annoying thing in the world is having flaky tests, so it's hard to justify using AI when it compromises accuracy."* + +## Performance Considerations + +One significant challenge with current AI automation tools is **speed**. Christian's testing revealed: +- AI-driven workflows taking 13-14 seconds for simple login processes +- Traditional frameworks completing the same tasks in 1-2 seconds + +This performance gap makes real-time AI automation impractical for most testing scenarios, though pre-generated test scripts remain viable. + +## The Exciting Future: Model Context Protocol (MCP) + +Christian's most compelling vision involves the **Model Context Protocol** and web components. Instead of LLMs parsing entire DOM structures, imagine if web components could expose their functionality directly to AI agents: + +- A login component exposing a `login()` method +- Shopping cart components revealing `addItem()` and `checkout()` capabilities +- Navigation components offering routing functions + +This semantic approach would make browser automation more reliable by providing AI with meaningful, component-level context rather than raw HTML structures. + +## Key Recommendations for the Testing Community + +**For Automation Engineers:** +- Focus on AI-enhanced tooling (like Cursor) rather than full AI automation services +- Use AI to generate framework code, then refine manually +- Avoid over-reliance on current AI automation platforms + +**For Exploratory Testers:** +- Leverage AI tools that can generate reusable test scripts from manual exploration +- Develop strong prompt engineering skills (BDD experience is valuable here) +- Stay informed about evolving AI capabilities + +**Universal Advice:** +- Don't fear AI—embrace it as an enhancement tool +- Experiment with AI integration in current workflows +- Maintain healthy skepticism about AI automation promises +- Continue developing traditional testing skills alongside AI capabilities + +## Community and Open Source + +Christian emphasized the WebDriver.IO community's commitment to supporting contributors financially, noting that the recent VS Code extension was developed by a community member who was compensated for their work. This model demonstrates how open-source projects can sustainably grow while supporting their contributors. + +## Conclusion + +The integration of AI into testing workflows represents an evolution, not a revolution. While current AI automation tools show promise, they're not yet ready to replace human testers or traditional automation approaches. Instead, the real value lies in AI's ability to enhance productivity, generate test code more efficiently, and handle exploratory testing scenarios. + +As Christian concluded: *"Stay close to all developments in the space, try things out, find out how AI can help you be more efficient, and don't be afraid of it."* + +The future of testing will likely involve a thoughtful blend of AI enhancement and human expertise, with new paradigms like the Model Context Protocol potentially revolutionizing how we approach browser automation. + +--- ## Watch the Recording Couldn’t join us live? Watch the entire episode here -