Introduction

In the dynamic world of software testing, ensuring the final product aligns with user expectations is crucial. For Quality Assurance (QA) professionals, Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) has emerged as a powerful methodology due to its collaborative and user-focused approach. BDD bridges the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders, fostering a shared understanding of desired software behavior through clear, concise, and executable specifications. This collaborative approach significantly enhances the QA process by ensuring all team members are aligned on the requirements and expected outcomes.

In this blog, we will delve into the essentials of BDD, explore the Gherkin language used for writing BDD tests, and share best practices for creating effective BDD scenarios. By the end, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of how BDD can enhance your QA process, ensuring high-quality software that meets user needs and expectations.

What is Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)?

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) is a software development technique that encourages collaboration among developers, testers, and business stakeholders. It focuses on the behavior of the system from the user’s perspective. BDD helps in ensuring the software meets the users’ needs and expectations by defining scenarios that describe the desired behavior. This approach is crucial for successful BDD development, as it aligns technical and non-technical team members around common goals.

What is Gherkin Language?

Gherkin is a structured language that is used to write BDD tests. It uses a specific syntax that is easy to read and understand for both technical and non-technical team members. Gherkin scenarios are written in a Given-When-Then format to describe the expected behavior of the system in a clear and concise manner. Mastering Gherkin is essential for effective BDD development, as it ensures clarity and precision in defining user stories.

In BDD, “Given-When-And-Then-But” is the proposed approach for writing test cases. Listed below is an example of BDD.

In the above example, there are many keywords, and every keyword has its own meaning and purpose.

Let’s explain each keyword with respect to the above example.

• Feature Keyword: The feature file starts with the keyword Feature. Under feature, you can mention the feature name which is to be tested, as seen below, Feature: User login into the site with valid data and Invalid data
• Scenario Keyword: There can be more than one scenario under one feature file, and each scenario starts with the keyword Scenario, followed by the scenario name. In the below example, we can see there are two scenarios. Scenario: Login as a new sign-up user with valid data Scenario: Login as a new sign-up user with invalid data
• Given Keyword: Given keyword is normally used when we have to give some pre-condition in our test case as seen in the example below, Given User is on the home page of the site Or Given User is on the Log-in page of the site
• When Keyword: When the keyword is used to perform some action, as depicted in the example below, When the User enters an email Or When the User clicks on the “Log in” button
• And Keyword: There is no annotation for AND keyword. It is used to connect two statements and provides the logical AND condition between any two statements. AND can be used in combination with GIVEN, WHEN and THEN statements and used for positive assertion. And the user clicks on the login button
• Then Keyword: Then Keyword is used for the final outcome or for validation. Then User should be logged-in successfully Then Error message should be displayed
• But Keyword: But the keyword is used to represent negative assertions in addition to the previous statement. But Log-in button is not present But Re-login option should be available
• Background Keyword: If there is any repetitive step that is going to be used in every test case. We just add the repetitive step under Keyword Background. Step keep under Background would be run before every test case. Background: Given User navigates to the Website

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