Opera intros two open source projects for developers

OSLO, NORWAY: If you develop or test websites and applications, OperaWatir (pronounced "Water") and OperaDriver are about to make short work out of testing your creation in Opera.

Rather than time-consuming manual tests, OperaWatir and OperaDriver allow you to build automated tests that interact with your pages just as a user would, such as clicking links, entering text and submitting forms said a press release.

Also read: All you wanted to know Opera 11 alpha

OperaWatir is a branch of the open source toolkit Web Application Testing in Ruby (WATIR). With the initial release of OperaWatir, all major browsers are now represented.

"The Web works best when it works everywhere," said Christen Krogh, chief development officer, Opera Software.

"OperaWatir and OperaDriver represent another step in making that a reality. At the same time, we can help developers spend less time testing and more time doing what they love. Everyone wins, and the Web takes a step forward in cross-browser compatibility," added Krogh.

For organizations that already use Watir for their internal testing, OperaWatir will allow them to include Opera in their range of automated tests added the release.

Also read: Opera intros WAC-ready widget runtime for Android

OperaWatir and OperaDriver are the newest releases in Opera's ongoing drive to give back to the web developer community. Other efforts include:

* Opera Dragonfly, the set of on-board developer tools available in Opera's desktop browser.

* Open the Web, a cross-disciplinary team that works directly with web developers to help them build sites that work across browsers and devices.

* Opera Mobile Emulator, a version of Opera Mobile that runs on desktop PCs to allow for faster development and smooth testing of sites on mobile devices.

OperaDriver is the backend of OperaWatir that communicates with the Opera browser. While OperaWatir is written in Ruby, OperaDriver is written in Java, and it allows developers to create automated tests using the Java-based JUnit testing framework.