Chapter 1: Where do they come from?

As mentioned in the original version of the article, Selenium and Puppeteer are prominent tools in this area, originally developed by Thoughtworks and Google.

Crawlee is a simple and fast web crawling framework developed specifically for Python. It enables access to extensive data on websites and is ideal for projects that work with Python. Playwright is a relatively new framework that was also developed by Microsoft. It enables the automation of browser-based tasks via an easy-to-use API and supports all modern web browsers. BeautifulSoup is a Python library developed specifically for web scraping tasks. It enables the parsing of HTML and XML documents and navigation through the structure of these documents.

Cheerio is a server-side JavaScript library that uses the syntax of jQuery and enables the access and manipulation of HTML structures.

Automation and testing are two essential aspects of any modern web development. With tools like Puppeteer and Selenium, developers can create and execute complex test scenarios for their web applications. But what are the origins of these two tools and what makes them different? Let's take a closer look.

Boxes and labels – over the last two decades, we've all been put in boxes and labeled: the silent generation, boomers, Gen X, Y, Z. When I first heard about Gen X, I asked, where do we go after Gen Y and Z? Now there's Last Generation as a label and it doesn't seem to be very helpful. Most of it is opinion, clickbaiting, marketing copy and clichés. We often had to work our way through these sometimes self-imposed restrictions in order to meet at eye level and only then did the teamwork become very exciting and productive.

Up or down, on or off – It makes a big difference whether we started our careers in a boom cycle with a wide range of jobs and opportunities or in a downturn with a lot of uncertainty. People who start their career in a boom cycle have much more self-confidence and higher expectations. We can see that in the current economic situation here in Germany. People who completed their education online during the pandemic find it easy to work from home. Older people may prefer to pick up the phone and speak to someone instead of writing an email. It is crucial to find out how to communicate "across ages".

This morning my mother told me how, as a 16-year-old, she was the first young woman in the area to get her tractor driver's license. That must have been around 1950 and around 25% of the population worked in agriculture back then. Today, the figure is only 1.2% and work processes are increasingly determined by fully automated systems and artificial intelligence (AI).

The world of work has always been in flux and here are five current issues:

The coronavirus pandemic was a major disruption for the world of work, especially in offices. Suddenly everyone had to stay at home and work from home. Decentralized work structures, access to important data from outside and video conferencing were suddenly possible, teams had to be managed and organized decentrally. Necessity was the mother of invention and led to a surge in innovation and new working models. However, the initial enthusiasm for the home office was also followed by concerns about isolation and loneliness. Companies have to work economically and employees are asking themselves: do I really have to go back to the office and how do I organize my everyday life?  

Digital natives who have grown up with apps, smart phones and social media are entering the job market with new expectations. Linear and hierarchical structures are often alien to them; 'everything digital' is a creative tool. They expect companies to be at the cutting edge of technology and employers to match their values and ideas. Digital natives don't want to be a number in a big machine and want their personality to be recognized and respected. For many, work-life balance is more important than a high income.

Bug tracking can be translated into German as 'visible error tracking'. BugShot is a tool that makes it easy to detect and correct visible errors in the development of websites.

The development of websites is always project work. A team is put together to design, develop and launch a website within a specific timeframe and budget. Design, programming, project management and marketing are the most important disciplines of the people in the team. The team is physically separated - at the client's premises, in an agency or in the home office. Communication takes place via telephone, email, chats and video conferences and requires time and energy. Misunderstandings and repetitions can easily occur.

Errors and bugs creep in during programming. This is due to the nature of the work. The bugs have to be found and fixed, otherwise the website will not run smoothly. But other errors can also occur: Spelling, graphics, color or layout and logic.

BugShot can be used to mark the visible bugs on the website being worked on. The marker shows exactly what is meant. At the same time, a screenshot, the description, all browser and operating system data as well as attachments and a priority are transmitted. The bug is thus precisely identified, defined and localized without any annoying queries.

The bugs are organized on a Kanban board, which everyone in the team can view, and processed from there. As soon as a bug lands on "Done", everyone involved in the project receives a status email.

Collaboration becomes much easier. Testers report the bugs. The bugs are organized and processed on a Kanban board accessible to everyone in the team. Lengthy communication is no longer necessary, the team saves time and therefore money. Teamwork becomes easier and better and the quality of the project and the website improves significantly.  

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