The Page Objects pattern

The Page Objects pattern describes any web page in terms of a hierarchical Domain Specific Language (DSL). The application specific DSL helps to hide the page implementation; the test is no longer allowed to directly interact with a given page, but instead uses a framework of classes and methods to accomplish the same goal. This pattern abstracts the implementation details, such as element IDs, into a framework specifically designed for the application being tested.

Note

A DSL is a computer language that has been highly specialized for a specific application. It uses a general programming language such as Ruby or Java to implement classes and methods, which specifically apply to the application at hand.

Advantages of the Page Objects pattern

There are many advantages of using this pattern of test development; let's take a look at a handful:

• DSL framework: After implementing the Page Objects pattern, we end up with a framework that describes the application from business...