Getting Started with BDD Automated Testing from Scratch

Introduction

Automated testing is increasingly becoming an essential step in software or website releases. On one hand, the usage scenarios of software are expanding, and on the other, end-users' expectations for application quality are higher than ever. For example, a mobile application may need to be compatible across different platforms such as iOS and Android. Even within the same Android platform, there are various versions and many different screen sizes. Combined, these factors can result in dozens of possible configurations. Web applications face similar challenges — a single website may need to support multiple browsers (Chrome, IE, Firefox, mobile browsers on iOS and Android), various screen sizes, and so on. It is difficult for manual testing to meet all these testing requirements.

Automated testing may sound like a challenging task only mastered by specialized technical personnel. This was indeed the case for a long time. Programmers involved in automated testing not only need to understand programming but also have to spend a lot of time learning commercial or open-source testing tools. This book introduces some methods and tools aimed at lowering the barrier to automated testing, making it easier and faster for non-professional testers to accomplish automated testing tasks. It also presents a systematic approach to automated testing.

The test development process involves using natural language, JavaScript, and Python. Natural language is used to describe test cases, while JavaScript and Python are used to write test scripts. The two are linked together through a specific syntax.

Test cases written in natural language serve as testing documentation, describing the expected behavior of the application. Test scripts are used to verify these behaviors. This approach is increasingly popular and is known as Behavior Driven Development (BDD). BDD ensures consistency between documentation and test scripts, making maintenance easier, improving communication between business and technical personnel, and ensuring that the technical implementation of the application reflects business requirements.

Cucumber is one of the most popular frameworks for Behavior Driven Development. It uses behavior descriptions written in natural language to drive test scripts and supports multiple programming languages such as Ruby, Python, JavaScript, and Java. The popularity of JavaScript needs no further elaboration. According to statistics, JavaScript is the most commonly used language on GitHub. It is essential for front-end development, and with the advent of Node.js, it can be used for full-stack development, covering both the front end and back end of applications. Writing automated tests in JavaScript means that application developers can handle both application development and automated testing.

CukeTest is an indigenous automated UI functional testing software product with independent intellectual property rights. It supports various applications, including Web, Windows, Java, mobile, API, and more. It supports a wide range of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and fully supports domestic hardware and software platforms. In addition to the x86_64 CPU platform, it also supports ARM (Feiteng, Kunpeng), MIPS, and LoongArch (Loongson).

In CukeTest, automated scripts are written using natural language along with JavaScript or Python. It offers an easy-to-use integrated development environment, multiple automation engines, support for continuous integration and data-driven testing, comprehensive reporting, and video recording. These features make it well-suited for tackling various types of UI automation testing challenges.

The CukeTest testing framework combines the Cucumber framework with the JavaScript language, providing convenient functionalities for editing automated tests. These include automatic generation of framework code, jump navigation between code and natural language, visual maintenance of test scenarios, validation scripts, visual reports, and more. Its introduction has significantly lowered the difficulty of automated testing.

More importantly, it is available for free download (https://www.cuketest.com). Therefore, this book mainly uses the CukeTest interface as an example to explain automated testing. However, it's worth noting that if you prefer to use the Cucumber framework and JavaScript alone, you can still accomplish your testing tasks, though there may be some differences in development efficiency.