Headless browsers allow testing websites without a graphical user interface, improving test speed. Popular options include Headless Chrome, which provides the same capabilities as Chrome but without GUI overhead. Puppeteer is a Node library that controls Headless Chrome, enabling tasks like taking screenshots, testing JavaScript, and simulating user interactions at a faster, more optimized pace than alternatives like Selenium. Headless browsers and tools like Puppeteer and Chrome DevTools help speed up the development process through quicker, more efficient testing.
Have you been staying up to date on Perfecto's biggest product updates?
In this special Mid-Year edition, we will discuss the latest technology in test automation so you can ensure quality and agility for your application teams.
Topic will include:
- Apple’s recent change to XCUITest automation framework with iOS 11
- Fingerprint (touch ID) automation
- New network traffic
- Reporting at scale
- Live Demos
Stay until the end to participate in a live Q&A with our experts!
Webinar learn how to test any mobile app style from within eclipse using real...
This document summarizes a webinar presented by Itzik Levi and Eran Kinsbruner of Perfecto Mobile on using the Perfecto MobileCloud platform to test mobile apps on real devices from within Eclipse. The webinar covered transitioning from web to mobile testing, using Selenium for mobile, an overview of the MobileCloud platform, and a technical demo of the new MobileCloud WebDriver API. Key challenges in mobile testing like testing across devices and platforms and moving from emulators to real devices were also discussed.
Meetup kickoff slides - Perfecto Mobile, September 2014Perfecto Mobile
This document summarizes a mobile app dev-test meetup kickoff event. The meetup aimed to discuss increasing development velocity challenges, real devices vs emulators, real-life examples, and challenges for development and testing. The agenda also included an open discussion and planning for the next quarterly meetup. Key trends like mobile payments, wearables, and expectations for iOS 8 adoption were briefly highlighted. Challenges around balancing velocity and quality with growing app complexity and evolving test matrices were also noted.
6 tips for choosing the right app testing toolheadspin2
Mobile app performance testing provides several key benefits:
1) It helps improve an app's scalability by analyzing how the app performs under standard and high loads to ensure it can handle increased traffic and users.
2) It helps reduce costs by identifying bugs, bottlenecks and errors before launch to prevent downtime that could impact revenue.
3) It helps optimize user engagement by testing an app's onboarding process and performance across different devices and platforms.
4) It helps validate that an app's features and functions deliver as intended without impacting work speed or quality.
Keeping Your Continuous Test Automation Suites Continuously Valuable in DevOpsPerfecto by Perforce
When executing test automation at scale and continuously the value tends to decline over time, the team should follow recommended practices to keep their tests with high value.
Getting the value from your test automation is fundamental for fast feedback, risk reduction and return on investment from your testing activities. Once developing the test scenarios, teams cannot stop monitoring and ensuring that their tests continuously bring value, are not flaky, and can support the latest functionalities in your web and mobile apps. Teams often “forget” about their tests once they have been developed and integrated into the CI pipeline regardless of the value they bring.
This webinar will cover:
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-What are the criteria for a test to get included in the CI and continuous testing pipeline?
-How to continuously maintain the tests and optimize your suite so it continues to bring value?
-See a live demo of smart reporting and analytics that can serve as a monitoring and test maintenance tool.
Have you been staying up to date on Perfecto's biggest product updates?
In this special Mid-Year edition, we will discuss the latest technology in test automation so you can ensure quality and agility for your application teams.
Topic will include:
- Apple’s recent change to XCUITest automation framework with iOS 11
- Fingerprint (touch ID) automation
- New network traffic
- Reporting at scale
- Live Demos
Stay until the end to participate in a live Q&A with our experts!
Webinar learn how to test any mobile app style from within eclipse using real...Perfecto Mobile
This document summarizes a webinar presented by Itzik Levi and Eran Kinsbruner of Perfecto Mobile on using the Perfecto MobileCloud platform to test mobile apps on real devices from within Eclipse. The webinar covered transitioning from web to mobile testing, using Selenium for mobile, an overview of the MobileCloud platform, and a technical demo of the new MobileCloud WebDriver API. Key challenges in mobile testing like testing across devices and platforms and moving from emulators to real devices were also discussed.
Real device testing is important for app development as it allows testing across different devices, operating systems, and real-world conditions that emulators cannot simulate. Some benefits of real device testing include effectively identifying bugs specific to device configurations, validating the app's layout and compatibility across various screens, checking network compatibility under different conditions, understanding user experience better than emulators, and stimulating real-world usage. Real device testing helps improve app quality by finding issues users may face.
Our "Mobile DevTest Dictionary" is a go-to slideshare for developers, testers and practitioners to stay informed on the resources they need to excel at their jobs.
The slides are divided into six categories with terms covering automation and CI tools, testing styles, Agile best practices, and more. Happy reading!
Test Automation for Mobile Applications: A Practical GuideTechWell
The world of information technology is undergoing revolutionary changes. Advancements in mobile computing, fueled by mobile applications, are playing an important role in driving these changes. While developers build their technical skills to accommodate these evolving trends, it is equally important for testers to understand what it takes to test mobile applications. Testers must understand the scope of mobile device applications testing, whether automation is feasible, and what challenges will face the test team. Kunal Chauhan presents an optimized approach to testing smart devices, specifically focusing on mobile applications test automation, the various forms of applications (web, native, hybrid), and the tools available to assist in the automation process. Kunal demonstrates an automation framework using open source tools, providing a practical implementable solution to add to your mobile test automation toolkit.
The document discusses building an enterprise-grade mobile testing strategy. It recommends starting with tools that fit your current workflow and then transforming your strategy over time to improve coverage, reliability, and governance. A balanced strategy considers factors like time to market, device and network coverage, and existing tools and processes. The document describes using HP UFT Mobile for test automation across real mobile devices and emulators at scale.
Adopting agile practices is a struggle for many mobile teams. While the answer sounds simple – automate process, testing, environment provisioning and deployment – in reality this can be hard to achieve. This webinar will show you how to run automation in parallel on real devices without manual intervention. Replay of live event: http://info.perfectomobile.com/Overcoming-Test-Automation-Obstacles-Webinar.html
How Digital Changed the Game... and how to cross platform test for itLizzy Guido (she/her)
Covered in this webinar:
- Today's Digital Reality and Challenges
- Perfecto's CQ Digital Lab
- Devices and Platforms
- Perfecto's Open Source Strategy
- DEMO
- Q & A
By the end of this webinar, you'll be able to tackle the challenges of the digital experience and recommend the best solutions for your clients.
This document provides an overview and demo of Perfecto Mobile's Continuous Quality Lab (CQ Lab) automation testing capabilities using Selenium and Appium. It discusses the CQ Lab architecture, how to set up automation tests using the desired capabilities, different mobile application types, and object identification. It then demonstrates creating a sample automation project and script in Eclipse, running the test, and reviewing the execution report in the Perfecto Mobile cloud platform.
Why Appium alone doesn't cut it for enterprises.
Covered in this webinar:
- Intro to Perfecto
- Intro to Appium
- How Perfecto Fits In
- Demos
- Q&A
By the end of this webinar, you'll be chomping at the bit for the next opportunity involving Appium!
This document provides an overview of how to deliver winning mobile apps through continuous quality. It discusses establishing a mobile QA plan based on continuous quality lab (CQL) principles, including functional and non-functional testing, regression testing, and pillars of a CQL. It also outlines mobile QA best practices such as building a proper test plan, establishing a continuous integration workflow, and implementing a continuous automation regression model. The key is leveraging a hybrid cloud approach using real devices to ensure high quality, velocity, and market responsiveness for mobile apps.
Why Apps Succeed: 4 Keys to Winning the Digital Quality GameAustin Marie Gay
Every company with a digital presence aims at delivering a great digital experience. But why do some web and mobile apps succeed better than others? As part of our ongoing search to find out, we surveyed over 1,000 technical experts and business leaders from various industries.
Join us for a live webinar as we discuss the findings of this report with experts from Perfecto, Cigna and Shop.com! Topics include:
-The four main obstacles preventing digital success and how to overcome them
-How web & mobile teams are organized to meet the demand for faster releases
-The digital testing strategies that increase velocity and allow teams to keep up with consumer demand
-Why automation and real-user condition testing is critical for achieving success
The document discusses open source testing tools for mobile applications. It begins by explaining that mobile testing requires automating both the application and the full user environment. It then reviews five popular open source test frameworks - Selenium, Appium, Calabash, Espresso, and XCTest UI - comparing their suitability for different uses like web, native, and hybrid apps. Key criteria that organizations should consider when choosing a framework include supporting multiple frameworks, flexibility, autonomy, full end-to-end coverage, and unattended reliable testing. The document concludes with a demonstration of a test automation tool called Quantum that integrates various open source frameworks.
Chrome Developer Tools - Pro Tips & TricksMars Devs
Whether you are a developer or not, Chrome developer tools bring something for everyone. Today, we’ll review Chrome Developer Tools and how to maximize them uniquely. Chrome Developer Tools is a developer tool built into the Chrome browser. Here’s what you should know!
Click here to know more: https://www.marsdevs.com/blogs/chrome-developer-tools-pro-tips-tricks
Top 13 best front end web development tools to consider in 2021Samaritan InfoTech
List & Comparison of Top Web Development Tools with Features & Pricing. Select The Best Front End Tool for Web Development Based on This Detailed Review, Web Development Tools helps the developers to work with a variety of technologies. Web Development Tools should be able to provide faster mobile development at lower costs.
Visit On:- https://www.samaritaninfotech.com
6 Essential Tools for Frontend and Backend Development to Use in 2023.pdfIntegrated IT Solutions
With the rise of digitalization, websites have become a need for businesses. As a result of this advancement, we can now use the power of well-tested libraries to simplify our products and have access to more responsive design options. Developers can use Web Development Tools to deal with a range of technologies.
Web development tools are intended to make the development lifecycle for web developers easier and faster without sacrificing performance. Developers can use web designing tools to create a responsive design.
The Magic of Headless Browser + Puppeteer: Using DevTools Without opening DevTools & GitKraken as a legendary Git GUI Client
1. The power of "Headless Browser". Your invincible genie.
2. Extending the power of headless even more - amazing things we can do with "Puppeteer".
3. "GitKraken" - an intuitive Git GUI client that 1.7 Million+ Devs Rely on.
The technology landscape is changing with every passing year. The technology landscape is changing with every passing year. More people than ever before are now online. It also means that the ways that people are accessing the web all over the world are changing, too.
In this talk, I talk about the different techniques coupled with few case studies on how to improve front-end performance.
Ecommerce Mini Project / Group Project CodingHemant Sarthak
This is an Ecommerce Mini Project / Group Project Presentation that I created as part of the college curriculum, this presentation is a more coding focused presentation that you might need to give in your college.
If you want Design focused presentation please see Ecommerce Mini Project / Group Project Design PPT that I uploaded.
It has things explained like VS Code, Adobe XD, Owl Carousel etc.
The document discusses 20 of the best web development tools for beginners and advanced developers. It provides details on each tool, including their key features and pricing. Some of the top tools mentioned are Chrome Developer Tools, GitHub, Sublime Text, Bootstrap, Ruby on Rails, Visual Studio Code, and jQuery.
Lamp Media Tech offers top notch digital marketing packages in Dubai that are also budget friendly. Our services will help you get the best results for your business in a short period of time. We will help you increase the traffic of your website and drive sales for your company.
11 Top Cross Browser Testing Tools to Know About.pdfkalichargn70th171
Ensuring your website shines on every browser is like hitting a moving target in web development. But fret not! With the right cross-browser testing tool, you're not just shooting in the dark; you're equipped with a laser-guided system. This blog will unveil the 11 best cross-browser testing tools for 2024, highlighting how each can be a game-changer in your web development arsenal. So, whether you're a seasoned developer or just dipping your toes in the digital waters, let's dive into browser testing tools and ensure your website stands tall across all platforms.
Puppeteer is a Node library that provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. It allows automation of tasks such as generating screenshots, crawling websites to capture pre-rendered content, automating form submissions and UI testing, and capturing performance traces. Puppeteer runs Chrome/Chromium in a headless environment by default but can also run the full browser if needed.
Validating Session Isolation for Web Crawling to Provide Data IntegrityGiacomo Zecchini
Deep dive into session isolation and why search engines render pages in isolated rendering sessions to avoid having the rendering of one web page affect the functionality or the content of another.
Web crawling tools aim to replicate search engines' crawling and rendering behaviours by implementing and using web rendering systems. This offers insights into what search engines might see when they are crawling and rendering web pages.
While there is no defined standard for an automated rendering process, search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Yandex) render pages in isolated rendering sessions. This way, they avoid having the rendering of one web page affect the functionality or the content of another. Isolated rendering sessions should have isolated storage and avoid cross-tab talking.
Core Web Vitals SEO Workshop - improve your performance [pdf]Peter Mead
Core Web Vitals to improve your website performance for better SEO results with CWV.
CWV Topics include:
- Understanding the latest Core Web Vitals including the significance of LCP, INP and CLS + their impact on SEO
- Optimisation techniques from our experts on how to improve your CWV on platforms like WordPress and WP Engine
- The impact of user experience and SEO
A plugin is a software that adds new or specific functionality to a program without altering the program’s code. Add capabilities whenever you want! Read the PPT for more information.
Technical Tips: Visual Regression Testing and Environment Comparison with Bac...Building Blocks
As a Front End Web Developer, experimenting with new tools to add to your workflow (and going down the rabbit hole with them!) is all part and parcel of refining your craft. Chris Eccles, Technical Manager at Building Blocks has been doing just this and has some invaluable insight into CSS Visual Regression using Backstop.JS.
CSS Visual Regression testing is the process of running automated visual test comparisons on pages or elements in your projects. Using Backstop.JS, Chris has discovered that this tool is intuitive, allowing quick configuration to allow you to get up and rolling quickly.
Backstop.JS serves your tests via a webpage which gives you the visual feedback needed for targeting bugs caused from CSS related issues. These comparisons can uncover bugs you’d otherwise not learn about until it’s too late. A very useful tool to have in your Front End arsenal, wouldn’t you agree?
Chris has been sharing his insights with the BB team and wanted to share with our blog readers also. So, sit back and enjoy the ride through the wonderful world of Backstop.JS.
How to Develop Progressive Web Apps in Flutter – Step by Step Guide.pptxBOSC Tech Labs
This article covers step-by-step process to create a Progressive Web Apps in Flutter. Here you will learn complete guide to a build a PWA to build a web based application for iOS and Android devices.
Google Chrome has fundamentally changed web browsing since its release in 2008. It was developed to be faster and more lightweight than other browsers through its minimalist design and powerful V8 engine. Chrome's focus on speed, security, and simplicity has resulted in widespread adoption, with the browser becoming the global leader in market share. Through regular updates and built-in protections, Chrome also aims to provide a secure browsing experience for users. Chrome's success demonstrates how a browser can reshape people's interactions with the internet through innovative technical capabilities and a user-centric approach.
5 Best Browser Extension Development Companies in the USA.pdfGroovy Web
If you're looking for the best browser extension development organization in the USA, look no further! These five companies are the cream of the crop when it comes to developing high-quality browser extensions.
Similar to Headless browser a stepping stone towards developing smarter web applications - p cloudy (20)
BT & Neo4j: Knowledge Graphs for Critical Enterprise Systems.pptx.pdfNeo4j
Presented at Gartner Data & Analytics, London Maty 2024. BT Group has used the Neo4j Graph Database to enable impressive digital transformation programs over the last 6 years. By re-imagining their operational support systems to adopt self-serve and data lead principles they have substantially reduced the number of applications and complexity of their operations. The result has been a substantial reduction in risk and costs while improving time to value, innovation, and process automation. Join this session to hear their story, the lessons they learned along the way and how their future innovation plans include the exploration of uses of EKG + Generative AI.
Mitigating the Impact of State Management in Cloud Stream Processing SystemsScyllaDB
Stream processing is a crucial component of modern data infrastructure, but constructing an efficient and scalable stream processing system can be challenging. Decoupling compute and storage architecture has emerged as an effective solution to these challenges, but it can introduce high latency issues, especially when dealing with complex continuous queries that necessitate managing extra-large internal states.
In this talk, we focus on addressing the high latency issues associated with S3 storage in stream processing systems that employ a decoupled compute and storage architecture. We delve into the root causes of latency in this context and explore various techniques to minimize the impact of S3 latency on stream processing performance. Our proposed approach is to implement a tiered storage mechanism that leverages a blend of high-performance and low-cost storage tiers to reduce data movement between the compute and storage layers while maintaining efficient processing.
Throughout the talk, we will present experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in mitigating the impact of S3 latency on stream processing. By the end of the talk, attendees will have gained insights into how to optimize their stream processing systems for reduced latency and improved cost-efficiency.
Sustainability requires ingenuity and stewardship. Did you know Pigging Solutions pigging systems help you achieve your sustainable manufacturing goals AND provide rapid return on investment.
How? Our systems recover over 99% of product in transfer piping. Recovering trapped product from transfer lines that would otherwise become flush-waste, means you can increase batch yields and eliminate flush waste. From raw materials to finished product, if you can pump it, we can pig it.
7 Most Powerful Solar Storms in the History of Earth.pdfEnterprise Wired
Solar Storms (Geo Magnetic Storms) are the motion of accelerated charged particles in the solar environment with high velocities due to the coronal mass ejection (CME).
Advanced Techniques for Cyber Security Analysis and Anomaly DetectionBert Blevins
Cybersecurity is a major concern in today's connected digital world. Threats to organizations are constantly evolving and have the potential to compromise sensitive information, disrupt operations, and lead to significant financial losses. Traditional cybersecurity techniques often fall short against modern attackers. Therefore, advanced techniques for cyber security analysis and anomaly detection are essential for protecting digital assets. This blog explores these cutting-edge methods, providing a comprehensive overview of their application and importance.
Fluttercon 2024: Showing that you care about security - OpenSSF Scorecards fo...Chris Swan
Have you noticed the OpenSSF Scorecard badges on the official Dart and Flutter repos? It's Google's way of showing that they care about security. Practices such as pinning dependencies, branch protection, required reviews, continuous integration tests etc. are measured to provide a score and accompanying badge.
You can do the same for your projects, and this presentation will show you how, with an emphasis on the unique challenges that come up when working with Dart and Flutter.
The session will provide a walkthrough of the steps involved in securing a first repository, and then what it takes to repeat that process across an organization with multiple repos. It will also look at the ongoing maintenance involved once scorecards have been implemented, and how aspects of that maintenance can be better automated to minimize toil.
Coordinate Systems in FME 101 - Webinar SlidesSafe Software
If you’ve ever had to analyze a map or GPS data, chances are you’ve encountered and even worked with coordinate systems. As historical data continually updates through GPS, understanding coordinate systems is increasingly crucial. However, not everyone knows why they exist or how to effectively use them for data-driven insights.
During this webinar, you’ll learn exactly what coordinate systems are and how you can use FME to maintain and transform your data’s coordinate systems in an easy-to-digest way, accurately representing the geographical space that it exists within. During this webinar, you will have the chance to:
- Enhance Your Understanding: Gain a clear overview of what coordinate systems are and their value
- Learn Practical Applications: Why we need datams and projections, plus units between coordinate systems
- Maximize with FME: Understand how FME handles coordinate systems, including a brief summary of the 3 main reprojectors
- Custom Coordinate Systems: Learn how to work with FME and coordinate systems beyond what is natively supported
- Look Ahead: Gain insights into where FME is headed with coordinate systems in the future
Don’t miss the opportunity to improve the value you receive from your coordinate system data, ultimately allowing you to streamline your data analysis and maximize your time. See you there!
Measuring the Impact of Network Latency at TwitterScyllaDB
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Understanding Insider Security Threats: Types, Examples, Effects, and Mitigat...Bert Blevins
Today’s digitally connected world presents a wide range of security challenges for enterprises. Insider security threats are particularly noteworthy because they have the potential to cause significant harm. Unlike external threats, insider risks originate from within the company, making them more subtle and challenging to identify. This blog aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of insider security threats, including their types, examples, effects, and mitigation techniques.
Implementations of Fused Deposition Modeling in real worldEmerging Tech
The presentation showcases the diverse real-world applications of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) across multiple industries:
1. **Manufacturing**: FDM is utilized in manufacturing for rapid prototyping, creating custom tools and fixtures, and producing functional end-use parts. Companies leverage its cost-effectiveness and flexibility to streamline production processes.
2. **Medical**: In the medical field, FDM is used to create patient-specific anatomical models, surgical guides, and prosthetics. Its ability to produce precise and biocompatible parts supports advancements in personalized healthcare solutions.
3. **Education**: FDM plays a crucial role in education by enabling students to learn about design and engineering through hands-on 3D printing projects. It promotes innovation and practical skill development in STEM disciplines.
4. **Science**: Researchers use FDM to prototype equipment for scientific experiments, build custom laboratory tools, and create models for visualization and testing purposes. It facilitates rapid iteration and customization in scientific endeavors.
5. **Automotive**: Automotive manufacturers employ FDM for prototyping vehicle components, tooling for assembly lines, and customized parts. It speeds up the design validation process and enhances efficiency in automotive engineering.
6. **Consumer Electronics**: FDM is utilized in consumer electronics for designing and prototyping product enclosures, casings, and internal components. It enables rapid iteration and customization to meet evolving consumer demands.
7. **Robotics**: Robotics engineers leverage FDM to prototype robot parts, create lightweight and durable components, and customize robot designs for specific applications. It supports innovation and optimization in robotic systems.
8. **Aerospace**: In aerospace, FDM is used to manufacture lightweight parts, complex geometries, and prototypes of aircraft components. It contributes to cost reduction, faster production cycles, and weight savings in aerospace engineering.
9. **Architecture**: Architects utilize FDM for creating detailed architectural models, prototypes of building components, and intricate designs. It aids in visualizing concepts, testing structural integrity, and communicating design ideas effectively.
Each industry example demonstrates how FDM enhances innovation, accelerates product development, and addresses specific challenges through advanced manufacturing capabilities.
Paradigm Shifts in User Modeling: A Journey from Historical Foundations to Em...Erasmo Purificato
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Quantum Communications Q&A with Gemini LLM. These are based on Shannon's Noisy channel Theorem and offers how the classical theory applies to the quantum world.
An invited talk given by Mark Billinghurst on Research Directions for Cross Reality Interfaces. This was given on July 2nd 2024 as part of the 2024 Summer School on Cross Reality in Hagenberg, Austria (July 1st - 7th)
Are you interested in dipping your toes in the cloud native observability waters, but as an engineer you are not sure where to get started with tracing problems through your microservices and application landscapes on Kubernetes? Then this is the session for you, where we take you on your first steps in an active open-source project that offers a buffet of languages, challenges, and opportunities for getting started with telemetry data.
The project is called openTelemetry, but before diving into the specifics, we’ll start with de-mystifying key concepts and terms such as observability, telemetry, instrumentation, cardinality, percentile to lay a foundation. After understanding the nuts and bolts of observability and distributed traces, we’ll explore the openTelemetry community; its Special Interest Groups (SIGs), repositories, and how to become not only an end-user, but possibly a contributor.We will wrap up with an overview of the components in this project, such as the Collector, the OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP), its APIs, and its SDKs.
Attendees will leave with an understanding of key observability concepts, become grounded in distributed tracing terminology, be aware of the components of openTelemetry, and know how to take their first steps to an open-source contribution!
Key Takeaways: Open source, vendor neutral instrumentation is an exciting new reality as the industry standardizes on openTelemetry for observability. OpenTelemetry is on a mission to enable effective observability by making high-quality, portable telemetry ubiquitous. The world of observability and monitoring today has a steep learning curve and in order to achieve ubiquity, the project would benefit from growing our contributor community.
Headless browser a stepping stone towards developing smarter web applications - p cloudy
1. Headless Browser - A Stepping Stone
Towards Developing Smarter Web
Applications
By prerna.bhatt
December 28, 2020
11 min Read
Share This Article
Websites being the primary source of communication in the digital transformation world, have evolved humongously since the last decade. Web
development has grown at a tremendous pace with lots of automation testing frameworks coming in for both frontend and backend development.
Websites have become smarter and so have the underlying tools and frameworks. With a significant surge in the web development area, the browsers
have also become smarter. Nowadays, you can find headless browsers, where users can interact with the browser without GUI. You can even scrape
websites in headless browsers using packages like Puppeteer and nodejs.
Efficient web development hugely relies on a testing mechanism for quality assessment before we can push them in production environments. Headless
browsers can perform end to end testing, smoke testing etc at a faster speed as it is free from overhead of the memory space required for the UI.
Moreover, studies have proved that the headless browsers generate more traffic than the non-automated ones. Popular browsers like Chrome can even
help in debugging the web pages in real time, analyse performance, notify the memory consumption, enable tweaking of the code and analyse
performance in real time etc. Isn’t this evolution of browsers heading towards a smarter web development process? So in this blog we will have an
overview on headless browsers and understand how it helps in smarter and faster website development.
What is a Headless Browser ?
A headless browser is simply a browser without the GUI. It has got all the capabilities of rendering a website, like a normal website. Since GUI is not
available in the browser with headless mode, we need to use the command line to interact with the browser. Headless browsers are designed for tasks
like automation testing, javascript library testing, javascript simulation and interactions.
One of the biggest reasons for using headless browser or headless browser testing is that it let’s you run the tests more quickly and in a real
environment. For eg, the combination of chrome devtools and headless chrome lets you edit pages on the fly and, which helps you in diagnosing the
problem quickly ultimately helping you in developing better websites faster. So headless browsers are more fast, flexible and optimised in performing
tasks like web-based automation testing. Like a normal browser, the headless browser is capable of performing tasks like links parsing JavaScript,
clicking on links, coping with any downloads and for executing this we need to use command line. So it can provide a real browser context without any
of the memory consumed for running a full-fledged browser without a GUI.
2. The Need for a Headless Browser
With advancements in the website development technologies, website testing has taken a center stage and emerged as the most essential steps in
developing high performing websites. Even browsers are becoming smarter as they can load the javascript libraries for performing automation testing.
Isn’t that a significant transformational leap in the website testing. So let’s have an overview on some of the major functions performed by headless
browsers.
Enables faster web testing using Command Line Interface
With headless cross browser testing, we are saved from the overhead of memory consumed in GUI, hence it enables faster website testing, using
command line as the primary source of interaction. The headless browsers are designed to execute crucial test cases like end to end testing which
ensures that the flow of an application is performing as designed from start to finish. The headless browsers cater to this use case as they enable faster
website testing.
Scraping websites
The headless browser saves the overhead of opening the GUI thus enabling faster scraping of the websites. In headless browsers we can automate the
scraping mechanism and extract the data in a much more optimised manner.
Taking web screenshots
Though the headless browsers do not avail any GUI, they do allow the users to take snapshots of the website that they are rendering. It’s very useful in
cases where the tester is testing the website and needs to visualise the code effects and save results in the form of screenshots. In a headless browser
you can easily take a large number of screenshots without any actual UI.
Mapping user journey across the websites
Headless browsers allow you to programmatically map the customer journey test cases. Here headless browsers help the users to optimise the user
experience throughout their decision making journey on the website.
Now that we have understood what is a headless browser and it’s numerous features, along with the its key quality of being a lightweight browser which
helps in accelerating the speed of testing, let’s have an overview on the most popular headless browser, Headless Chrome and see what does it
unlocks
Diving into Headless Chrome and Chrome DevTools
We have a number of headless browsers and to name a few are firefox version 55 and 56, PhantomJs, Html Unit, Splinter, jBrowserDriver etc. Chrome
59 is Chrome’s version to run it in headless mode. Headless Chrome and Chrome DevTools is quite a powerful combination enabling the users with out
of box features. So let’s have an overview on Headless Chrome and Chrome DevTools.
What is Headless Chrome
3. Headless Chrome shipping in Chrome 59, is basically running chrome in a headless environment. It’s running chrome without GUI. This light weighted,
memory sparing and quick running browser brings in all the modern web platform features provided by the chromium and blink rendering engine to the
command line.
As per the studies, the automated browsers always generated more traffic than the non-automated ones. In a recent survey, it was discovered that the
headless Chrome generated more traffic than its previous leader Phantum Js within a year of its release.
Apart from this, there are several reasons why chrome is the most popular headless browser. One of the reasons is, it’s always updating out of the
box features, which constantly introduce new trends in web development. It also consists of a rendering engine called Blink , which constantly
updates itself as the website evolves. What does the Headless Chrome Unlocks :
The ability to test the latest web platform features like ES6 modules, service worker and
streams
Enables to programmatically tap into the chrome devtools and makes use of the awesome
features like network throttling, device emulating, website performance analysis etc.
Test multiple levels of navigation
Gather page information
Take screenshots
Create PDFs
Now let’s have a look on the most common flags to start working with headless chrome:
Starting headless
For starting headless, you need a Chrome 59+ and open the chrome binary from the command line. If you have got the Chrome 59+ installed then start
the Chrome with
The — headless flag starts the chrome in headless mode
4. Similarly for printing the DOM, creating pdf, taking screenshots we can simply use the following flags
Printing the DOM
The –dump-dom flag prints document.body.innerHTML to stdout
Create a PDF
The –print-to-pdf flag creates a PDF of the page:
Taking screenshots
To capture a screenshot of a page, use the –screenshot flag
Debugging a code without the browser UI
If you want to debug your code in a headless browser using the chrome devtools then make note of the following flag.–remote-debugging-
port=9222. This flag helps you to open the headless chrome in a special mode, wherein the chrome devtool can interact with the headless browser to
edit the web page during run-time. We will dig deeper into Chrome Devtools in the later section of the blog.
For debugging the web page with chrome devtools, use the –remote-debugging-port=9222 flag.
What is Chrome DevTool ?
Chrome DevTools is a set of web developer tools built directly into Google Chrome. It helps to debug the web pages on the fly and hence helps to detect
the bugs quickly, which ultimately helps to develop the websites faster.
The simplest way of opening devtools is, right click on your webpage and click inspect. Now based on your purpose to use the devtool, you can open
various consoles. For example to work with DOM or CSS you can click on the elements panel, to see logged messages or run javascript click on
the console panel, for debugging the javascript click on the source panel, to view network activity click on the network panel, to analyse the
performance of the webpage click on the performance panel, to fix memory problems click on the memory panel.
As we can see, the chrome devtools is a package of diverse functionalities which helps in debugging a web page in the chrome browser. But what about
the headless browser with no UI, how can we debug the web page with no UI?. Can chrome devtools help debugging a headless browser ? Let’s
demystify the ways of debugging a headless browser with chrome devtools, discuss what is puppeteer in the following sections of the blog.
Puppeteer
As discussed earlier, one of the ways of debugging a web page in a headless browser is to use the flag –remote-debugging-port=9222 in the
command line which helps in tapping into the chrome devtools programmatically. But, there is another layer into the picture to play with the headless
chrome to perform numerous out of the box tasks and make use of headless in a more efficient way. Here, Puppeteer comes into the picture.
5. Puppeteer is a Node Library which provides a high level API to control chrome over devtools protocol. Puppeteer is usually headless but can also be
configured to use full non – headless Chrome. It provides full access to all the features of headless chrome and can also run chrome fully in a remote
server which is very beneficial to the automation teams. It would be quite justifying to term Puppeteer as Google Chrome team’s official Chrome
headless browser.
One of the greatest advantages of using puppeteer as an automation framework for testing is that unlike other frameworks, it is very simple and easy to
install.
As puppeteer is a node javascript library, so first of all you need to install nodejs on your system. Nodejs comes with the npm (node package manager)
which will help us to install the puppeteer package.
The following code snippet will help you to install nodejs
## Updating the system libraries
##sudo apt-get update
## Installing node js in the system
##sudo apt-get install nodejs
Once you are done with installation of node js in your machine, you can run the following flag to install puppeteer.
npm i puppeteer
With this you completed the installation for puppeteer which will also by default download the latest version of chrome.
Why is puppeteer so useful ?
Puppeteer provides full access to all the out of box features provided by the headless chrome and its constantly updating rendering engine called blink.
Other than mostly used automation testing frameworks for web applications like selenium web driver, puppeteer is so popular as it provides automation
for a light weighted (UI less) headless browser which helps in testing faster. Likewise there are multiple functionalities provided by puppeteer, so let’s
have a look at it
It can help generate screenshots and pdfs of pages
Crawl a single page application and generate pre-rendered content
Automate form submission, UI testing, end to end testing, smoke testing, keyboard input etc
Creates an up-to-date, automated testing environment. Run your tests directly in the latest
version of Chrome using the latest JavaScript and browser features.
Captures a timeline trace of your site and analyses performance issues.
It can test Chrome Extensions.
Allows performing web scraping
As we are aware of the functionalities performed by puppeteer let’s have an overview on the code snippet for taking screenshot in puppeteer.
const puppeteer = require(‘puppeteer’);
(async () => {
const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.goto(‘https://example.com’);
6. await page.screenshot({path: ‘example.png’});
await browser.close();
})();
Once this code gets executed, a screenshot will be saved in your system through the path mentioned in the code snippet.
Conclusion
Faster and qualitative web development has always been and will always be the top priority of QA and development teams. The headless browsers (
without GUI) being light weighted and memory sparing runs at a higher speed while automation testing. Definitely they cater to the need of smarter web
development. Moreover, they help in testing all the modern web platform features as well as enable debugging and performance analysis during real
time which adds another feather on the cap. They are responsible for heavy traffic in the web applications and support website scraping with the help of
packages like nodejs and puppeteer. Furthermore, the installation of headless browsers is easier than installation of any other web automation
frameworks like selenium. These qualities of headless browsers are compelling the brands to utilize them for developing high performance web
applications.