Mastering BDD with Cucumber & Java for Test Automation

Foundation: Understanding the Basics of Cucumber

In this blog, we’ll explore the key concepts of Cucumber that are crucial for improving your automation framework. By grasping these fundamental ideas, you’ll be able to build a stronger, more efficient, and scalable testing framework that can adapt as your project grows.

In a previous blog post called “A Hands-On Introduction to Selenium, Cucumber, and BDD in Java” we explained how to set up Cucumber and Selenium and introduced the basics of Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) using Java. If you haven’t read it yet, we strongly suggest you do so before continuing with this blog. It provides all the information you need to start using Cucumber in your projects.

Key Components of a BDD Cucumber Framework

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) using Cucumber relies on a few important parts that help make test automation work well and involve everyone on the team:

Feature Files: These are the core of Cucumber. They hold test scenarios written in Gherkin, a simple language that lets both tech and non-tech team members easily understand and add to the tests.

Step Definitions: These act like connectors, linking the steps written in Gherkin to the actual code that runs the automation, allowing the test scenarios to be executed.

Hooks: These allow you to set up actions to happen before or after scenarios or certain steps, like setting up resources or cleaning up after tests.

Tags: Used to label and group test scenarios, making it simple to organize, filter, and run specific tests when needed.

Runner Class: Serves as a link to testing tools like JUnit or TestNG, enabling the running of feature files and scenarios.

Gherkin Syntax: A straightforward and organized language that uses words like Given, When, Then, And, and But to explain scenarios in a way that both technical and non-technical team members can easily understand.

Glue Code: Connects feature files with their corresponding step definitions, ensuring that test scenarios run without issues.

Background: Offers a method to set up common steps used in many scenarios within a feature file, cutting down on repetition and making the tests easier to read.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can enhance each of these areas, beginning with Optimizing Feature File Management.

Optimizing Feature File Management

In BDD using Cucumber, feature files are very important. They describe how your application should work in a way that everyone, developers, testers, and business people can understand. As your project gets bigger, keeping these feature files organized becomes more important. Good organization helps avoid confusion, makes your project easier to maintain, and helps you grow your testing efforts smoothly.

Here are some helpful tips to manage your feature files well:

Adopt Clear and Consistent Naming for Better Code Quality

Feature File Naming in Cucumber:
When naming your feature files in Cucumber, it’s important to pick names that clearly describe what the feature is testing. Avoid unclear names like test.feature or login.feature. Instead, use names that show specific actions or user stories. Using consistent and clear names helps keep your project organized and makes it easier for anyone to understand what each file does.

Dos:

• Use snake_case for feature file names (e.g., user_login.feature, checkout_process.feature). This makes the names easy to read and understand.
• Make sure the name clearly explains what the feature is testing. For example, user_registration.feature tells you right away that it tests the user registration process.
• Be consistent with your naming style. If you choose snake_case, use it for all your feature files.

Don’ts:

• Avoid simple or unclear names like test.feature or login.feature. These don’t give enough information about what the test is checking.
• Don’t use different naming styles (e.g., userLogin.feature, USER_checkout.feature), as this can be confusing and make things inconsistent.

Feature Naming in Cucumber:
Instead of using simple or general names, the titles inside the file should match the user story. This way, it’s clear what the feature is for, who it’s meant to help, and what it does.

Example:

Instead of a simple feature name like:

You can structure it as a user story to add more clarity, like this:

This format, based on the Given-When-Then structure, defines the feature in terms of the user’s needs and provides valuable context for the team. It outlines:

• In order to: The objective or benefit of the feature.
• As a: The user or role that will benefit from this feature.
• I want to: The specific functionality or behavior being tested.

Benefits of Using User Story Format:

• Improved Clarity: Makes the feature’s intent clear for all developers, testers and business stakeholders.
• Aligns with Agile Practices: Reflects the user-centered approach typical in Agile methodologies.
• Better Collaboration: Helps the entire team whether technical or non-technical, understand the purpose of the feature.

Utilize the Background Section for Reusable Steps
The Background section in Cucumber is useful for setting up steps that are used in many scenarios. This way, you avoid repeating the same steps and make your feature files clearer.

Why Use the Background Section?

Reduces Repetition: Steps like logging in or going to a page only need to be written once, which avoids repeating them.

Enhances Readability: It keeps your scenarios focused on testing specific actions, while the setup steps are managed separately.

Do’s:

• Put actions that are done in many scenarios, like logging in or going to a page, in the Background section.
• Only add steps to the background if they are needed for more than one scenario.

Don’ts:

• Don’t put steps in the background that are only for one scenario. Keep it for shared actions only.
• Make the Background section clear and easy to understand so that the scenarios are still easy to follow.

Essential Considerations Before Using the Background Section:

• Only include steps in the Background that are needed for many different situations.
• Ensure the steps in the Background are simple and easy to follow.
• Be careful not to add too many actions to the Background, as this can make fixing problems more difficult. Stick to the most important steps.

Example: We put the steps that we kept doing to go to the login page in the Background section. This way, we don’t have to repeat them and the feature file becomes easier to read.
For more information, please refer to the feature file below.

Efficiently Organize Scenarios with Tags
Tags are a useful tool in Cucumber that help you organize your test scenarios by categorizing them. This makes it simpler to manage and run certain groups of tests. It’s especially helpful in CI/CD pipelines, where you might need to run different kinds of tests, such as quick checks, full checks, or tests for specific functions, using tags.

We created standard tags like @smoke, @Regression, @login, and @ecommerce to group test scenarios and filter tests according to their purpose. For better understanding, please refer to the feature file example we looked at earlier.

Optimize Data-Driven Testing with Scenario Outline
When you have to run the same test with various data sets, using a Scenario Outline along with an Examples table is the best way to do it. This method helps you avoid repeating the same test steps and lets you test many cases quickly, without writing the same code over and over.

Action Taken:Changed several similar test scenarios into a single Scenario Outline to manage different data sets without duplicating the test steps.

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