Defining Elements in Page Objects

annotations.java

@TagName("form")
private Element form;

@Id("user_email") @Scope("form")
private TextField email;

@Id("user_password")
private TextField password;

@Data("test=submit")
private Button submit;

explicit.java

private Element form = browser.element(By.tagName("form"));
private TextField email = form.textField(By.id("user_email"));
private TextField password = browser.textField(By.id("user_password"));
private Button submit = browser.button(By.cssSelector("[data-test=submit]"));

Oh yes, I also ignore @Scope("form") annotation. Well, it's also easy:

private SelenideElement form = $("form");
private SelenideElement email = form.$("#user_email");
private SelenideElement password = form.$("#user_password");
private SelenideElement submit = form.$(by("data-test", "submit"));

I'm somewhat amused that the Ruby dev is pushing for Typing and the Java dev is calling it not beneficial. :)

Yes, it's funny. :)

No, generally I love types. I only don't see any benefits of types in case of web elements.
They all have only two methods: click and sendKeys, that's why type doesn't matter for them.

Yeah, except SelectLists, and IFrames and RadioGroups and Forms and Input Fields and Date Fields.

And it isn't just about actions, it is about state (selected vs not selected); it is about information (selected value), etc.

A lot of code in Watir is managing these differences. Are they essential to being able to write tests? No. Are they beneficial? In my experience, yes absolutely.