Automating Web Testing with cURL and Perl

With little or no budget to acquire test automation tools for Web applications, many testers think there is nothing they can do to replace manual tests with automated ones. Not true! Paco Hope introduces two free tools-cURL and Perl-and explains how you can use them to design both positive (functional) and negative (security) test cases. cURL is a free program that helps automate HTTP, HTTPS, and other common types of Web commands. Perl is a well-known programming language well-suited for writing test scripts. Paco describes the basics of automating tests with these tools and explores the automation complexity that these tools help solve. He demonstrates how a few simple commands can generate thousands of test cases, whether your Web platform is Java EE, .NET, or something else. Leave with an understanding of scripting basics and a list of resources you can turn to for learning more about free Web test automation tools.