A couple of articles, coming at you

I've always felt that the test automation literature is a little ... odd.

On the one hand, you have the floofly high-level tutorial, written so that it applies to every test tool. By trying to apply to every tool, the tutorial isn't specific enough to provide step-by-step instructions.

Then you buy something and try to use it. UGH. That's no fun. So maybe you hire some consultants to build the framework and basic test suite. That's great, but it costs you $8,000 a week - and - $320,000 and six months later, and the consultants leave, do you have the expertise to maintain the suite?

All too often, two years later, you've got some really expensive shelfware.

So I'm interested in tutorials about test tools. The thing is, once you get specific, the market is much smaller -- so it's rare to find a mass-market book about testing with a specific test tool.

But that's the other thing. With some test tools today, you don't need one. All the readers need is an article bit enough to get them started -- or a short series to keep them learning.

That said, the folks at SearchSoftwareQuality invited me to do a small series on Selenium, and have published the first two parts - a two-part mini-series on Selenium RC. Read all about it - part one and part two, online, for free.

The next article in the series will address Selenium IDE, the development environment for Selenium. I hope you find them enjoyable and helpful.