Testing Products for Web Applications?

hellbunnie asks: "I work with a team of developers many of whom spend much of their time writing web-based front-ends for DBs or other applications. Now, while we enjoy programming, we're pretty lazy when it comes to testing. Even if we weren't so lazy, I think we'd still miss a number of problems, 'cos there's just so many different screens that use any particular method/function that you might change. That means there's a lot to be tested after each change. So, my question is has anyone any experience with automated systems for testing web applications?"

"I've seen a lot of automated test suites advertised and I've always assumed that they were no substitute for careful testing by a human. However, as the number of web pages that we need to maintain grows, I've begun to wish that we had something that we could kick off at night, that would follow all links on our system and fill in values for the various forms it encountered, then when we arrived in the next morning there'd be some sort of report available detailing its findings. It could flag any pages that returned something obviously incorrect, such as a SQL error, a blank page or just the word 'error'.

Does such a thing exist or am I just engaging in wishful thinking to imagine that there might be something flexible enough to do the job? What do other people do to test their software?"

Comments

OMG

[geekoid]

If you can't figure this out, please stop programming.

Man, this is basic stuff anybody with 2 years experience should be able to handle.

This is suppose to be part of the design, coding, and implimentation. Maybe I should do an ask slashdot:
dear slashdot readers, I've been programming for a long time, and now I have to write an accounting package, can anybody show me how?"

sheesh.

Try developing your test harnesses first...

[jlanng]

... you'll find it saves time and impresses your peers. (N.B. I can't guarantee it'll get you laid but the odds would shift in your favour)