Scripting Recipes for
Testers
Adam Goucher
Manager of Quality, Zerofootprint Software
adam@goucher.ca
http://adam.goucher.ca

Code craft is mandatory
Reading and writing code extends and accelerates
critical thinking

Language Choice
Three things you don’t talk about in polite company:
sex, politics, language choice

Language Choice
There is no such thing as right or wrong, but there is
right-er and wrong-er depending on the situation

Increasing Insight
Uncover hidden technical debt

Tip: Common Case
Converting both sides of a comparison to a common
case means you don’t have to worry about case

Tip: YAGNI
You Ain’t Gonna Need It

Increase Insight
Exploration (or Throw out your scripts)

Increasing Ease
Just because something was hard manually doesn’t mean
it always has to be hard

Tip: One Line at a Time
Simple is better than complex - The Zen of Python

Test Selection
Browser Percentages

Tip: Filter the data
You are not the customer so you should not be in the
data

Tip: Reinvent the wheel
Sometimes you can make a better wheel

Tip: YAGNI is heuristic
Even though YAGNI, if you can capture it easily then do
so

Data Generation
Who says randomness in testing is bad?

Tip: Can’t Pronounce?
So what?

Tip: Embrace Chaos
The world is a random place, why should your data be
organized?

Oracles
Unlike the one at Delphi, our oracles shouldn’t be
stoned on sulphur fumes

Tip: Proximity
Things that are related, should be together

Reduce Costs
Wouldn’t you like your budget focused on your salary?

Tip: Let scripts evolve
Just like all living thing, scripts evolve

Increase Speed
We have the technology. ... Better than he was before.
Better, stronger, faster.

Go Forth and Script!