Implementation question in web-development

Question

Hello,

We are testing a DSL modem's web pages (the HTTP server is running on the modem). We have an automation tool that configures various options on the web pages by sending POSTS of the respective web pages

We are using TCL (HTTP package) to send POST data on the web pages .

My questions:

1. Is there a faster way to do this other than TCL ?

2. When POST method of certain web page changes then the automation code has to be re-written .

Is there a way to write a generic code in some language so that the tool works irrespective of changes in POST or web structure? If not, What is simple and fastest way to do implement and maintain the automation tool ? Please suggest programming language.

It will be great if someone can share their ideas.

Regards,
Mithun

Answer 1

Python + web2py

All in one package with no further dependencies. Development, deployment, debugging, testing, database administration and maintenance of applications can be done via the provided web interface. web2py has no configuration files, requires no installation, can be run off a USB drive. web2py uses Python for the Model, the Views and the Controllers, has a built-in ticketing system to manage errors, an internationalization engine, works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite , Oracle, MSSQL and the Google App Engine via an ORM abstraction layer. web2py includes libraries to handle HTML/XML, RSS, ATOM, CSV, RTF, JSON, AJAX, XMLRPC, WIKI markup. Production ready, capable of upload/download of very large files, and always backward compatible.

Text from python wiki

Answer 2

I am not sure I understand what you are asking, but for testing web frontends, you can use Selenium. And for your backend, you can use PHPUnit. They also work together.

You will have to adjust your tests when your application changes. You run your tests against an interface. When that changes, your tests will have to change.

Answer 3

Selenium is definitely a good option and would be my personal choice. It can be used on several languages. It is mostly a matter of taste and how familiar you are with the language.

If you do not know any of the ones proposed, I would recommend python or ruby but once again, it a matter of taste. Selenium can and is meant to indeed be included in an unit tests suite, which is usually bound to the language (JUnit in Java, NUnit for .Net, unittest for python etc.).

Another option is the testing module form Visual Studio 2010, which is very nice and I think , offers this kind of features plus a lot of other ones too (but comes with a cost! and runs on Windows only).