Tools for Putting Web Apps to the Cross-Browser Test

Cross-browser testing for both security and functionality issues is a crucial step for any serious Web application. There are several automated tools out there for assisting the task, including some from open source  projects like Selenium. However, several problems remain in cross-platform testing procedures, even with proven tools.


            eb-based applications and cloud computing have presented new challenges for software developers. Most software makers are by no means tone-deaf to user concerns about security and usability issues, but even those software writers who are receptive to these worries must contend with hard-to-plug holes that can open up in cross-platform programs such as Web browsers.
For Web app developers, the problems occur on two fronts. Not only do they have to harden the application itself, but they also have to keep up with the occasional new browser release -- updates to Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Internet Explorer, for instance, as well as frequent version upgrades for Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Safari, Mozilla's Firefox, Opera, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Chrome and others.
With more applications built for the Web, cross-browser testing is crucial to application performance. Numerous automated helpers are available from a variety of commercial and community-based software testing tools. For example, over 2 million users have turned to theSelenium Project's open source, cross-browser testing platform to solve the various security and functionality flaws that crop up in software code. Selenium is currently in use at companies such as Google, Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM).
However, several problems remain in cross-platform testing procedures, even with proven tools. Users often require commercial support for Selenium. Others need enhanced features and speed. Other enterprises simply lack the infrastructure for doing their own sophisticated product testing.
Five years ago, Sauce Labs began developing Selenium. More recently, company officials announced a Series A funding round and a new product that merges Selenium with the WebDriver Project. The company also released in early February a free testing tool called "Selenium RC" that allows developers to write automated Web application user interface (UI) tests in any programming language against any HTTP Web site using any mainstream JavaScript-enabled browser.
"We address the routine that each developer faces. It is laborious to make sure that all the patches are current and that the latest software version is installed. Sauce Labs does that for the developers so that problem goes away for them. Developers traditionally struggled in their labs with single versions of a software application," John Dunham, CEO of Sauce Labs, told LinuxInsider.