Hacker News Reader

Comment by bdcravens | Hacker News Reader

If you're going to go to the trouble of running something from the terminal (even if you save time with a bash/batch script), why would you prefer this over Selenium? With Selenium you can customize the actions, extend using your favorite language (such as adding pauses or pulling inputs from a database), and if you use Firefox, you can get the same recording ability (only you can save the file and can extend via JavaScript)

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Selenium solves a different problem. With selenium, you record user actions, and verify properties about the state of the site.

The record/playback feature is designed to make a copy of the content you look at during a session, allowing you to retrieve it offline at a later time by revisiting the page (or making equivalent HTTP calls).

Interestingly, if you use both together, you can design a offline-mode reader for hacker news for use on the train or other disconnected environments. Or, combine selenium and playback mode to create kick ass demos that are less likely to fail on weak wifi networks. :)

True. I hadn't considered situations where the content would change if you replayed later. For the apps where I'd use this that's never been a use case, and aside from the cached content, Selenium accomplishes the same and more. Selenium is typically used for testing and verification, but it's quite useful as a recording/playback or full-fledged browser automation tool. Another good one is iMacros.

This Chrome feature is useful for 'I'm going up on stage to demo my product' scenarios, thus the

  > even if your servers have exploded, a bug has been 
  > deployed, or the conference wifi has dropped out

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