Tip
Generation 1: Record/Playback
Generation 3: Data driven
Generation 4: Keyword driven
Current Generation: Hybrid
The test automation tool vendors market their product being able to capture user actions and later to playback. This is the basic paradigm for GUI-based automated regression testing—the so-called record/playback method (also called the capture/replay approach). It can be achieved using Selenium RC and Selenium IDE, but not with Selenium WebDriver.
There is no reusability factor.
The basic drawback in the record and playback methods is that scripts contain hardcoded data, hence parameterization is not possible. The costs associated with maintaining such scripts eventually become expensive and unacceptable.
The recorded scripts are not reliable, even if the application has...