Mastering BDD Framework with Cucumber: Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet

shubham nayal
3 min readAug 21, 2023

--

In software development, collaboration is key. Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) bridges stakeholders, developers, and testers. Cucumber, a core BDD tool, seamlessly integrates business needs. This cheat sheet is your shortcut to mastering Cucumber for interviews.

Cucumber Basics

Cucumber Feature Files

Cucumber uses feature files written in Gherkin, a human-readable domain-specific language, to define the behaviour of the software from an end-user perspective. Feature files consist of:

  1. Feature: Describes the overall feature or functionality.
  2. Scenario: Specific use cases or test scenarios.
  3. Given-When-Then: Keywords to outline the steps of the scenario.

Step Definitions

Step definitions bridge the gap between the Gherkin language and actual code implementation. Each step in the feature file corresponds to a step definition method written in a programming language (e.g., Java, Ruby) with regular expressions

Cucumber Annotations

Annotations help in organizing and configuring the Cucumber test environment.

  1. @Given: Denotes a precondition for a scenario.
  2. @When: Represents an action or event.
  3. @Then: Specifies an expected outcome.
  4. @And: Adds additional steps.
  5. @But: Contrasts with the preceding step.
  6. @Before: Runs before each scenario.
  7. @After: Runs after each scenario.
  8. @RunWith(Cucumber.class): Initiates Cucumber execution.

Hooks

Hooks in Cucumber allow you to perform actions before or after scenarios. This can be useful for setup and teardown activities.

Tags

Tags provide a way to group and categorize scenarios. They help run specific subsets of scenarios during testing.

Advance concepts :Data Tables and Scenario Outlines

Data tables and scenario outlines allow you to provide dynamic input to your scenarios.

Data Tables:

Scenario Outlines:

Conclusion

With this cheat sheet, you’re well-equipped to navigate the intricacies of Cucumber and BDD. Whether you’re preparing for interviews or striving to enhance collaboration within your development team, Cucumber’s structured approach to testing will undoubtedly prove invaluable. So go ahead, write those feature files, craft your step definitions, and let BDD empower you to build software that truly meets user expectations. Happy testing!

Disclaimer: This cheat sheet is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional advice or exhaustive documentation.

--

--