Programming language to automatically navigate website?

Question

I've been programming for many years now, and I have just one question.

What programming language allows you to create programs which can automatically navigate websites and perform various actions? For example, logging in, browse to a specific page, fill out forms, extract certain text and so on.

This is different to a macro as a macro only performs a predefined set of actions. On the other hand, the program would behave differently depending on what's displayed on the screen.

Perhaps some kind of scripting language? Or a general-purpose language. Your answers will be appreciated.

Answer 1

I have been using Ruby and watir to do just that, its very straight forward and works by automating IE or Firefox.

with this approach the browser handles any JavaScript mess but you still have complete access to the page content so you just need to add your unique logic like filling an online form.