In this fast-paced and never-ending software development world, smooth communication between tech and non-tech stakeholders is crucial. With its more recent emergence, behavior-driven development (BDD) has gathered a lot of momentum by allowing software development to align directly with the goal of business objectives. The cucumber framework is a widely used tool for BDD implementation.
In this blog, we will talk about how BDD and Cucumber go hand in hand in their quest to achieve maximum test automation and why organizations should have BDD and Cucumber in their testing arsenal.
What is BDD (Behavior-Driven Development) in Testing?
Behavior Driven Development (BDD) is an agile development technique for developing an application driven by behavior. It is an evolution of Test-Driven Development (TDD) that resets the focus from the technical details of implementing the application to the application being built and what it should do. At its heart, it allows you to express your specifications using Gherkin, a language that everyone can understand, irrespective of their technical background.
Key Benefits of BDD:
- Improved Collaboration: BDD encourages collaboration among stakeholders by expressing requirements in a unified language.
- Better Test Coverage: BDD emphasizes expected behaviors and helps testing cases to build with user perception.
- Find Bugs Early: Because tests are written based on business logic, they are able to detect problems earlier in the development cycle.
- Better Reusability of Tests: Thanks to the modularity of BDD scenarios, they can be reused across test cases and projects.
Cucumber Framework: An Implementation of BDD
There are quite a few Behaviour-driven Development (BDD) testing frameworks. One of them is Cucumber, one of the most famous BDD testing frameworks that allows users to write a natural language format to write test cases. It supports multiple languages, including Java, JavaScript, and Python, improving its automation usability.
How Cucumber Works:
- Write Gherkin Scenarios: Test cases are written in the form of Gherkin language in plain text and will use Given-When-Then steps.
- Design Test Steps: Each step in the scenario will point to an internal code function.
- Run the Tests: The automation framework executes the tests, checking the application behavior against the outlined scenarios.
- Provide Meaningful Reports: Test results are generated as reports that you can understand that highlight how the application is functioning.
Getting Started with BDD and Cucumber + ACCELQ
For organizations looking to ramp up their test automation investments, BDD integration with ACCELQ can deliver exponential benefits. ACCELQ is a true end-to-end, codeless, AI-powered automation platform that smoothly integrates with BDD frameworks such as Cucumber. It allows teams to automate complex business processes without sacrificing development and business objectives.
Here is Why ACCELQ for BDD Automation
- Zero Scripting: Dotcom teams with ACCELQ can solely focus on defining behavior without an inclination towards programming and technicalities.
- ACCELQ Cucumber Support as Right-Hand Buddy: ACCELQ gets seamlessly integrated with Cucumber to let the teams run BDD tests without human intervention.
- Execution Logic with AI: The platform improves testing efficiency and coverage with automation powered by artificial intelligence.
- Comprehensive Reporting: With complete visibility into test results, ACCELQ helps teams make informed decisions based on the quality of the application.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Implement BDD with Cucumber
Step 1: Define User Stories
Begin with rough business requirements and user stories. Make sure to collaborate with stakeholders to fill in any missing critical functionalities.
Step 2: Writing Gherkin Scenarios
Write your test scenarios in Gherkin syntax. For example:
Feature: Login Functionality
Scenario: Logging in to the app with valid credentials
Given the user is on the login page
When they provide valid credentials
Then they should be sent to the homepage
Step 3: Write Step Definitions
Automate – Mapping Gherkin steps to a programming script
@Given(“the user is on the login page$”)
public void userIsOnLoginPage() {
driver.HttpResponse response = httpClient;
}
@When(“the provide valid credentials”)
public void enterValidCredentials() {
driver.findElement(By.id(“username”)).sendKeys(“testuser”);
driver.findElement(By.id(“password”)).sendKeys(“password123”);
driver.findElement(By.id(“login-button”)).click();
}
@Then(“they should be redirected to the homepage”)
public void redirected_to_hompage() {
Assert.assertEquals(driver.getTitle(), “Home – Example”);
}
Step 4: Implement Tests and Analyze Outcomes
Then run the test cases with the Cucumber’s test runner. Test results are shown in an organized way so that each team can make clear what passed and what did not.
Step 5: CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Deployment)
Use a CI/CD tool to run BDD tests, such as Jenkins or ACCELQ, so that test case execution can be automated.
Conclusion
BDD and Cucumber are driving effective and scalable test automation. These tools help maintain good software quality by promoting collaboration, increasing the clarity of tests, and ensuring the alignment of development with business objectives. Your AI-Powered Test Automation Solution ACCELQ When combined with AI and platforms, test automation can help create a functional, seamless combination where experimenting and rapid testing can be done. Accelerate your testing journey with BDD using Cucumber, and check out ACCELQ for the effortlessly transformational automation journey.
