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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallA Smattering of Selenium #87 was a link roundup by Adam Goucher, published on June 14, 2012—not a Selenium release announcement. Its ten links ranged across WebDriver performance testing, large-scale tests, Android app testing, web persistence, deployment, and development infrastructure.
What is “A Smattering of Selenium #87”?
It is one entry in Selenium’s numbered Smattering series. Goucher’s subtitle was “Avoiding punching things about software packaging by doing the 4th!!!!” He called it the fourth smattering in a row. The post collects links with brief commentary rather than presenting one tutorial or announcing a new Selenium version. Read the original post.
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What did the roundup cover?
- Python decorators: A link about learning the decorator pattern.
- Web persistence: Lawnchair, described as both an outdoor couch and a persistence solution for HTML5 apps. The post cautioned that checking persistent apps in a browser alone was not enough.
- WebDriver and performance: Soke, an Atlassian WebDriver performance-testing tool, was described as incorporating Page Objects.
- Vendor-prefixed CSS: A discussion asked whether scripts should fail on vendor-prefixed CSS. It linked to the W3C article “How to Unprefix -Webkit-Device-Pixel-Ratio.”
- Android unit tests: A link about Android testing, ending with a humorous LOLcat reference.
- Large-scale testing: “Speedily practical large-scale tests.”
- Continuous deployment: A piece presenting continuous deployment as a way to address burnout.
- Python repository structure: Opinions and guidance about organizing Python repositories.
- Cloud provisioning: Skewer, described as a Puppet-based cloud-node provisioning tool, with Chef and CfEngine mentioned as alternatives.
- Android app automation: Calabash-Android, characterized at the time as an evolving way to drive Android apps.
Why does the post matter to Selenium readers?
The clearest Selenium-specific thread is soke: the roundup connected WebDriver browser automation with performance testing and mentioned Page Objects. The other links broaden the issue into testing practice and supporting engineering work—mobile app automation, persistence, test scale, deployment, and infrastructure provisioning. Taken together, they show the range of topics around test automation that Goucher chose to highlight in 2012.
Those descriptions report how the 2012 roundup characterized its links. They do not establish whether the named projects are maintained, available, or suitable today. For historical context, use the original links and evaluate present-day project status separately.
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What this roundup does not tell you
It does not document a Selenium release, give setup instructions, or compare the linked tools in a systematic way. Nor should its mention of a project be read as a current endorsement. Selenium’s article page currently lists BrowserStack, Sauce Labs, and TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest) as development partners; that is present-day page context, not a recommendation made in the 2012 roundup.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Capture a browser page with ScreenshotNeo
If you are following the browser-testing thread and need a screenshot of a page for a test or record, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers. It is an alternative to setting up a browser capture yourself, not a tool named in Goucher’s post.
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One GET request can return an image or PDF. This cURL example saves a WebP screenshot of Selenium’s historical roundup; see the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options.
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