I want to get better at testing my applications so that clients and end-users run into fewer bugs. I’m learning how to use Selenium to write browser-based tests. So far, I’ve written eight tests and fixed three bugs. This is good.

I’m using the Selenium IDE, and I’m looking forward to trying other options. I like the way that the Selenium IDE lets me record and step through tests easily. The Selenium Stored Variables Viewer plugin was really helpful, because it made it easy for me to store values and view them. I’m slowly getting the hang of different commands and asserts. Next week, I’m going to read the command reference so that I can index the possibilities.

People tell me I’m a fast developer. I want to try swapping some of that speed for better accuracy – slowing down and doing things right, with tests to back that up. It feels like it takes a lot of time to click around and wait for the pages to respond, or even to run these web-based tests and iterate until I’ve gotten them right, but it’s better for me to do it than for other people to run into these errors. Besides, with tools and metrics, I can make testing more like a game.

Onward and upward!