To get the most out of this book

Software covered in the book	Operating system requirements
WebdriverIO v.8	Windows, macOS, or Linux
TypeScript v.5.1.6
Java JDK @latest
Node v.18
Yarn @latest
Git @latest
GitHub Desktop latest version	GUI frontend for GitHub and GitLab
SelectorsHub 5.0 free edition	Chrome extension
EditThisCookie	Chrome extension
VS Code
Belarc Advisor Profiler (optional) free, single, personal-use license	Windows only

The authors have attempted to use freely available tools for readers’ benefit. There are other paid IDEs available that offer more coding features to make life easier. In addition, the free version of SelectorsHub does an exceptional job, but we recommend the paid Pro version for its advanced Shadow Dom features. Free GitHub accounts are public while paid repos are private.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

If you are new to test automation, we advise you to get machines equivalent to, or better than, the specification used by the product development team you will be supporting. There is a common misconception that automation is just “record and playback” and does not require heavy-duty resources. There is one simple fact to keep in mind: parallel browsers and virtual machine testing require more resources.