Cucumber BRIDGING COMMUNICATION GAPS WITH DEVELOPERS AND STAKEHOLDERS @BERMONPAINTER ConFoo 2014

The hardest single part of building a software system is deciding precisely what to build. ! - Fred Brooks

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Overview OUTLINE UNIT TESTS vs. ACCEPTANCE TESTS Workflow FEATURES, SCENARIOS, & STEPS Step Definitions VERIFY ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA Benefits & Best Practices WRITING FEATURES & IMPROVING COLLABORATION Convincing Stakeholders 5 WAYS TO CONVINCE STAKEHOLDERS TO WRITE FEATURES

Cucumber BEHAVIOR DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Written in a plain text language called Gherkin. CUCUMBER

Describes how software should behave. CUCUMBER

Helps bridge gaps in communication with non-technical and technical teams. CUCUMBER

Can provide a consistent feedback loop. CUCUMBER

Minimizes misunderstandings & incorrect concepts before implementing in code. CUCUMBER

Reduces costs, decreases time-to- market and improves maintainability. CUCUMBER

Unit Tests UNIT TESTS vs. ! ACCEPTANCE TESTS ENSURE YOU BUILD THE THING RIGHT

Unit Tests UNIT TESTS vs. ! ACCEPTANCE TESTS ENSURE YOU BUILD THE THING RIGHT Acceptance Tests ENSURE YOU BUILD THE RIGHT THING

Workflow FEATURES, SCENARIOS & STEPS

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Features WRITTEN BY STAKEHOLDERS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE TEAM

Step Definitions WRITTEN BY DEVELOPERS

Application WRITTEN BY DEVELOPERS

Feature Files DESCRIBE HOW STAKEHOLDERS THINK THE SYSTEM SHOULD WORK

FEATURE FILES Feature: Feedback when entering invalid credit card details ! In user testing we've seen a lot of people who made mistakes entering their credit card. We need to be as helpful as possible here to avoid losing users at this crucial stage of the transaction. ! Scenario: Credit card number too short Given I have chosen some items to buy
 And I am about to enter credit card info
 When I enter a card number that's only 15 digits long
 And all the other details are correct
 And I submit the form
 Then the form should be redisplayed
 And I should see a message advising me of the correct number of digits

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … And: … Features EACH FEATURE FILE BEGINS WITH A FEATURE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY. ! FEATURE DESCRIPTIONS PROVIDE CONTEXT.

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … But: … Scenarios SCENARIOS PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE SYSTEM SHOULD BEHAVE.

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … But: … Steps WRITTEN IN PLAIN ENGLISH. STEPS WILL MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF A FEATURE FILE.

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … But: … Steps GIVEN: SETUP

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … But: … Steps GIVEN: SETUP ! WHEN: ACTIONS ! THEN: ASSERTIONS

FEATURE FILES Feature: … ! Scenario: … Given: … And: … When: … Then: … But: … Steps GIVEN: SETUP ! WHEN: ACTIONS ! THEN: ASSERTIONS ! AND/BUT: HELPERS

FEATURE FILES Feature: Feedback when entering invalid credit card details ! In user testing we've seen a lot of people who made mistakes entering their credit card. We need to be as helpful as possible here to avoid losing users at this crucial stage of the transaction. ! Scenario: Credit card number too short Given I have chosen some items to buy
 Given I am about to enter credit card info
 Given I enter a card number that's only 15 digits long
 Given all the other details are correct
 Given I submit the form
 Given the form should be redisplayed
 Given I should see a message advising me of the correct number of digits

FEATURE FILES Feature: Feedback when entering invalid credit card details ! In user testing we've seen a lot of people who made mistakes entering their credit card. We need to be as helpful as possible here to avoid losing users at this crucial stage of the transaction. ! Scenario: Credit card number too short * I have chosen some items to buy
 * I am about to enter credit card info
 * I enter a card number that's only 15 digits long
 * all the other details are correct
 * I submit the form
 * the form should be redisplayed
 * I should see a message advising me of the correct number of digits

Step Definitions EXECUTE SCENARIOS IN FEATURE FILES AND VERIFY THAT THE SYSTEM MEETS ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

STEP DEFINITIONS Feature: Feedback when entering invalid credit card details ! Given /I have chosen some items to buy/ do
 # CODE GOES HERE end ! When /I enter a card number that's only 15 digits long/ do
 # CODE GOES HERE end ! And /all the other details are correct/ do
 # CODE GOES HERE end ! And /I submit the form/ do
 # CODE GOES HERE end ! Then /the form should be redisplayed/ do
 # CODE GOES HERE end

Process PUTTING ALL OF THE PIECES TOGETHER AS A TEAM

1. Describe Behaviors (STAKEHOLDER + TEAM) ! 2. Write Step Definitions (DEVELOPERS) ! 3. Run Tests (TESTS FAIL) ! 4. Write Code for Tests to Pass ! 5. Run Tests (TESTS PASS) FAIL PASS REFACTOR

Writing Features BENEFITS & BEST PRACTICES TO GET THE MOST OUT OF CUCUMBER & BDD

Improve client & team communication BENEFITS

Encourages discussions among all team members BENEFITS

Better integration & acceptance testing BENEFITS

Describe features, not a sequence of actions BEST PRACTICES

Keep features at a high level BEST PRACTICES

Hide complexity in the implementation of the steps BEST PRACTICES

Test the most important/risky pieces of a system first BEST PRACTICES

Write tests until the remaining risk isn't worth the time & money to address BEST PRACTICES

Commit Feature Files to Version Control. INSTANT FEATURE HISTORY

Improving Collaboration WORKING WITH TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Developers write all feature files UNFORTUNATE COMMON OCCURRENCES

Stakeholders write all feature files UNFORTUNATE COMMON OCCURRENCES

Stakeholders write feature files in collaboration with their team BEST CASE SCENARIO

Convincing Stakeholders 5 WAYS TO CONVINCE STAKEHOLDERS TO WRITE FEATURE FILES

Do only as much planning, analysis, and design as you need, but no more. ONE

Deliver stakeholder value TWO

Create a consistent language THREE

Concise and understandable documentation FOUR

Explore examples through collaboration FIVE

You should not be afraid to delete tests that are no longer providing value, no matter whether you originally planned to keep them or not. We tend to treat tests as these holy creatures that live blameless, irreproachable lives once they have sprung into existence. ! Not so. ! The maintenance required to keep a test running weighs against its value in further development. Sometimes these lines cross, and the test simply becomes a burden on the project. Having the skill and experience to recognize a burdensome test is something we should be bringing to our clients, as well as the fortitude to rewrite it, rethink it, or delete it. ! - Adam Milligan

Fin. @BERMONPAINTER ConFoo 2014