Question

I need a paragraph on what the Gherkin language is. What is it used for? How do we use it? What are the good and bad things about it?

Answer 1

what the Gherkin language ?

Gherkin language is a domain-specific language that helps you to explain business behavior without the necessity to travel into detail of implementation. The scripts of gherkin acts as documentation and skeleton of your automated tests. Gherkin relies on TreeTop Grammar which exists in 37+ languages. Therefore you'll be able to write your gherkin scripts in 37+ spoken languages.

What is it used for ?

Since gherkin is structured natural-language,it is utilized by business analysts to specify how they require the system to behave for given scenarios. The Gherkin language is straightforward. It uses about 10 keywords (Given, When, Then, And, But, Scenario, Feature, Background, Scenario Outline, Examples) which permit the language to be read and parsed by an automation tool called Cucumber, which is a testing tool and supports behaviour driven development {BDD} framework.

How do we use it?

Example:

Feature : Login functionality of the social networking site Facebook.
Given: I am a facebook user.
When: I enter the username as a username.
And I enter the password as the password
Then I should be redirected to the home page of

The scenario stated above is of a feature called user-login.

In Example words written in bold are keywords of gherkin

• Each scenario should execute separately
• Every feature should ready to be executed along
• Steps information should be shown independently
• Connect your Scenario's along with your requirements
• Keep a whole track of what scenarios should be included in an exceedingly requirement document
• Create modular and straightforward to grasp steps
• Try to combine-all of your common scenarios

What are the good and bad things about it?

Good Things:

• Gherkin is straightforward enough for non-programmers to know about.
• Programmers can use it as a really solid base to begin their tests
• It makes User Stories easier to digest
• Gherkin script can be easily understood by business executives and developers
• Targets the business requirements
• You mustn't be an expert to know the little Gherkin command set
• Gherkin links acceptance tests on to automated tests
• Style of writing tests cases are easier to reuse code in other tests

Bad Things:

• High level of business engagement and collaborations are required
• Might not work well all told scenarios
• Poorly written tests can easily increase test-maintenance cost and time.