Cucumber questions

Question: What is Cucumber?

Answer:  Cucumber is a testing tool that supports Behavior-Driven Development (BDD). It allows the execution of specifications written in plain text and serves as documentation, automated tests, and collaboration among stakeholders.

Question: Explain the concept of Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).

Answer:  BDD is a software development approach that encourages collaboration among developers, QA, and non-technical stakeholders to define, implement, and verify system behavior using natural language specifications that can be understood by everyone involved.

Question: What are the key components of a Cucumber feature file?

Answer:  Feature, Scenario, Scenario Outline, Given, When, Then, And, But.

Question: How do you write scenarios in a Cucumber feature file?

Answer:  Scenarios are written in a plain text file using Gherkin syntax, which includes keywords like Feature, Scenario, Given, When, Then, And, But, and Scenario Outline.

Question: What is Gherkin? How is it related to Cucumber?

Answer:  Gherkin is a business-readable domain-specific language used to write Cucumber tests. It provides a structured way to describe system behavior in a human-readable format. Cucumber interprets Gherkin syntax to execute automated tests.

Question: What is the purpose of Step Definitions in Cucumber?

Answer:  Step Definitions define the actual implementation of the steps written in Gherkin scenarios. They are written in programming languages like Java, Ruby, or JavaScript and are responsible for executing the corresponding actions.

Question: How do you write Step Definitions in Cucumber?

Answer:  Step Definitions are written as methods/functions in programming languages like Java, Ruby, or JavaScript. Each Step Definition corresponds to a step in the Gherkin scenario and contains the logic to execute that step.

Question: Explain the difference between Background and Scenario Outline in Cucumber.

Answer:  Background: A background is a set of steps that are common to all scenarios in a feature file. It is executed before each scenario.

    Scenario Outline: A scenario outline allows for running the same scenario multiple times with different sets of data. It uses placeholders (e.g., `<variable>`) in scenario steps and provides examples to replace these placeholders.

Question: How do you use tags in Cucumber?

Answer:  Tags are used to categorize and filter scenarios and features. They are specified using the `@` symbol in Cucumber feature files and can be used to run specific subsets of tests.

@validateA

Feature: Verify applicationA

  @smoke @regression

  Scenario: product description

    Given hello

  Scenario: Several menus

    Given hello

Question: What is the purpose of Hooks in Cucumber?

Answer:  Hooks in Cucumber allow for the execution of pre-defined actions before or after scenarios, such as setting up test data, initializing the test environment, or performing cleanup tasks.

Before -

Annotated method :

@Before

public void doSomethingBefore() {

}

@Before(order = 10)

public void doSomething(){

    // Do something before each scenario

}

Lambda :

Before(() -> {

});

Before(10, () -> {

    // Do something before each scenario

});

After -

Annotated method :

@After

public void doSomethingAfter(Scenario scenario){

    // Do something after after scenario

}

Lambda :

After((Scenario scenario) -> {

});

Question: How do you handle data-driven testing in Cucumber?

Answer:  Data-driven testing in Cucumber can be achieved using Scenario Outlines and Examples.

Scenario Outlines allow for defining a template scenario with placeholders for input data,

and Examples provide multiple sets of input values to be substituted into the placeholders,

allowing the same scenario to be executed with different data sets.

Question: Explain the concept of Background and its significance in Cucumber.

Answer:  The Background keyword in Cucumber is used to define a set of steps that are common to all scenarios in a feature file. It is typically used for setting up preconditions or test data that are required for multiple scenarios within the same feature. The steps defined in the Background section are executed before each scenario in the feature file.

Feature: Multiple site support Only blog owners can post to a blog

Background:
Given a global administrator named "Greg"
And a blog named "anti-tax rants"
And a customer named "Will"
And a blog named "Therapy" owned by "Adam"

Scenario: Will posts to his own blog
Given I am logged in as Will
When I try to post to "Therapy"
Then I should see articles."

Scenario: Will tries to post to somebody else's blog, and fails
Given I am logged in as Will
When I try to post to "anti-tax rants"
Then I should see "Hey! That's not your blog!"

Scenario: Greg posts to a client's blog
Given I am logged in as Greg
When I try to post to "Therapy"
Then I should see "Your article was published."

Question: What is the purpose of the Scenario Outline keyword in Cucumber?

Answer:  The Scenario Outline keyword in Cucumber is used to run the same scenario multiple times with different combinations of inputs. It allows for parameterizing scenarios by using placeholders (e.g., <variable>) in scenario steps, which are then replaced with concrete values provided in the Examples section. This helps in writing concise and reusable scenarios for testing multiple scenarios with varying input data.

Question: How do you manage test dependencies and shared state in Cucumber?

Answer:  Test dependencies and shared state in Cucumber can be managed using Dependency Injection (DI) frameworks like PicoContainer or Spring. These frameworks allow for injecting dependencies (e.g., WebDriver instances, test data) into Step Definitions or Hooks, ensuring that each scenario has access to the required resources without creating unnecessary duplication or tight coupling between steps.

Question: Explain how you would organize and structure feature files in a large-scale Cucumber test suite

Answer:  In a large-scale Cucumber test suite, feature files should be organized and structured in a logical and modular manner.

group related features and scenarios into separate feature files based on functional areas or business domains.

   Regularly review and refactor Step Definitions to avoid duplication and maintainability issues.

Additionally, tags can be used to categorize and filter scenarios for better organization and maintainability.

It's important to follow a consistent naming convention and keep feature files concise and focused on specific functionalities to improve readability and ease of maintenance.

Question: Explain the concept of Data Tables in Cucumber. How do you use them?

Answer:  Data Tables in Cucumber allow for passing tabular data to scenarios. They are written using pipe (`|`) or other separators and can be used for parameterization or passing multiple input values to a step.

Question: What are Scenario Outlines and Examples? Provide an example.

Answer:  Scenario Outlines allow for defining a scenario template with placeholders for input values, which are then replaced by values provided in the Examples section. For example:

    Scenario Outline: User login

      Given I am on the login page

      When I enter "<username>" and "<password>"

      Then I should be logged in

    Examples:

      | username | password |

      | user1    | pass123  |

      | user2    | pass456  |

Question: How do you handle asynchronous behavior in Cucumber tests?

Answer:  Asynchronous behavior can be handled using techniques specific to the programming language being used, such as promises in JavaScript or asynchronous annotations in Java.

Question: Explain the concept of Dependency Injection in Cucumber.

Answer:  Dependency Injection in Cucumber allows for injecting dependencies (e.g., WebDriver instances for browser automation) into Step Definitions or Hooks using frameworks like PicoContainer or Guice.

Question: What are some best practices for writing effective Cucumber scenarios and Step Definitions?

Answer: 

     Use descriptive yet concise scenario titles.

     Write scenarios in a business-readable format.

     Keep scenarios independent and avoid unnecessary repetition.

     Use background and scenario outline for better organization and readability.

     Keep Step Definitions simple and focused on one action per step.

Question: How do you integrate Cucumber with other testing frameworks like Selenium or Appium?

Answer:  Cucumber can be integrated with Selenium or Appium by writing Step Definitions that interact with the corresponding libraries to perform actions like browser automation or mobile app testing.

Question: Explain the role of Cucumber Reports. How do you generate and interpret them?

Answer:  Cucumber Reports provide detailed information about test execution, including the number of scenarios passed, failed, or skipped, along with execution times. 

They can be generated using plugins or libraries like Cucumber HTML Reports or Cucumber JVM Reports.

Question: What are some popular plugins or extensions available for Cucumber?

Answer:  Some popular plugins/extensions for Cucumber include Cucumber HTML Reports, Cucumber JVM Reports, Cucumber Extent Report, and Cucumber TestNG.

Question: Walk me through the process of creating a new feature file and writing scenarios for testing a login functionality using Cucumber.

Answer:  Answer would involve creating a new feature file, writing scenarios for different login scenarios like successful login, invalid username/password, etc., and corresponding Step Definitions.

Question: How would you handle scenario failures in Cucumber? What troubleshooting steps would you take?

Answer: 

   - Upon scenario failure, analyze the error message or stack trace to identify the root cause.

    - Check the Step Definitions for correctness and ensure they match the Gherkin steps.

    - Verify test data and test environment setup for consistency.

    - Debug and rerun the scenario to isolate the issue.