Friday, May 06, 2005

In-situ Web Testing Write tests for your web app using javascript? Over the years, my webtest tool of choice has migrated from the declarative WWW::Chat and HTTP::WebTest to Test::WWW::Mechanize. Although I prefer the declarative approach for testing, it seems like there is always some procedural code involved and patching the two approaches together is always awkward. Also, the Mech* modules have the biggest following right now (and the best docs etc.) and correspondingly have become the easiest to use. The tools I use do not let you run the browser engine on pages, however (evaluating javascript etc.) and have limited usefulness testing ajax-y types of pages. I think I will revisit thoughtworks when I have that need. 9:29:12 AM      comment []  trackback []

Search Serendipity I've been using A9 for the last few months, and I quite like the experience. When I switched, I was trying to figure out whether there was any value to be had mucking up the Google interface with sticky search (bookmarks, diary, search history etc). Mostly the answer was no, as I haven't gotten much value out of those options. But with the new open search api, you can create your own metasearches. I like this a lot. It's has an effect pretty similar to defining your own text ads to run down the side of your search results. In my case, since I'm working on several perl projects at the moment, I've added the CPAN search widget, so that search.cpan.org results appear alongside my google results. This is useful because a lot of what I search for is perldoc-type stuff (where search.cpan results would be relevant), but even when it's not directly what I'm looking for it exposes me to random perl modules somewhat similar to what I'm looking for (which is a experience akin to glancing at nearby shelves in a library.) Although I'm not really using it that way, picking your own ads seems like a good way to bypass the otherwise balkanized nature of net media. 9:08:53 AM      comment []  trackback []