Let the Engineers Speak—Selectors
Anyone who’s ever written web UI tests knows the pain of locating web elements. There could be hundreds of elements buried in the DOM, sometimes even under iframes and shadow roots.
How do I write good CSS selectors?
Is XPath always the wrong choice?
What about custom attributes or text?
Are there any special kinds of selectors available only in certain automation tools?
Listen in as Christian Bromann and Filip Hric answer these questions using WebdriverIO and Cypress, respectively in JavaScript. They teach us not just how to locate elements but how to do so sustainably.
No matter your framework, you’ll get valuable insights into choosing a strategy and best practices for selectors, as well as some tips on what to avoid.
Key takeaways:
- Understand how common automation frameworks handle locating elements in web UI testing
- Hear best practices for working with selectors and locators, as well as warnings and red flags to look out for
- Explore some tool-specific locators and how they can help create more robust tests
- Learn factors to consider when building a strategy for selectors
Applitools works with dozens of frameworks, languages, and tools. Book a demo with a testing specialist to see it in action with your tech stack.
Expert Speakers
WebdriverIO
Christian Bromann is the Founding Engineer at Stateful, measuring and improving developer happiness every day a bit more. An Open Source and Open Standards advocate, he is a Cross Project Council member at the OpenJS Foundation representing WebdriverIO.
Cypress
Filip Hric teaches testers about web development and developers about testing. He writes blogs, conducts workshops, and speaks on testing all around the world. An instructor at Test Automation University and egghead.io, Filip also hosts live online workshops on Cypress at filiphric.com.
Applitools
Andrew Knight is the Automation Panda, the Principal Developer Advocate at Applitools, and the Director of Test Automation University. An avid supporter of open-source software, Pandy is a Playwright Ambassador and the lead developer for Boa Constrictor, the .NET Screenplay Pattern.