WebDriver

I generally caution against ‘Helper’ classes and Static Helper classes when I’m consulting. SlowLoadableComponent isLoaded methods can be very ugly but are a good example of where helper classes can help, and in particular fluent helper classes.

I can see why people find it hard to work with WebDriver, particularly people new to the tool. Over the years I have learned to expect almost constant change from the ecosystem within which I automate with WebDriver (Browsers, Drivers, WebDriver, Java, JUnit). After all, the ongoing betterment of web automating worldwide must continue.

TLDR; Getting started with programming is the hardest part. Installing the IDE, adding dependencies, writing your first test. Pick whichever language you have someone to help you with, or you have a tutorial to work through. Switching languages when you know one is not too hard so do not worry about being stuck with a language, focus on getting started.

TLDR; Downloading a file with RestAssured is as simple as taking the body of a request as a byte array and writing it to a file.

When automating I often have to download files. One very common FAQ for WebDriver is “How do I download a file with WebDriver?”.

TLDR; Don’t rule out headless browsers like HTMLUnit, just because no-one uses them in the real world. They might make automating your task easier and faster.

TLDR; split code across lines and breakpoint, and use browser dev tools to test the locators used.