Behaviour Driven Development Testing with Cucumber

Executive Summary

Enhance mobile app automation with Cucumber. Use behaviour driven development testing to improve readability, collaboration, and results over TestNG.

In today’s fast-paced mobile application development world, ensuring quality and performance through automation is essential. While TestNG remains a common tool for unit testing, Cucumber introduces a behaviour driven development testing approach that improves collaboration and test clarity. This article explores how Cucumber enhances mobile automation with Selenium and why it’s often a better choice than TestNG for writing scalable and maintainable tests in Java.

Why Choose Cucumber Over TestNG for Mobile Automation Testing?

Readable Test Cases with Gherkin Syntax in Behaviour Driven Development Testing

One of the standout strengths of Cucumber lies in its ability to improve readability and collaboration. Through Gherkin syntax, testers write test cases in plain English. This allows non-technical stakeholders—like business analysts and product managers—to easily review and even contribute to test coverage.

TestNG, however, relies on Java annotations that create a barrier between development and business teams. In fast-moving mobile development apps, aligning technical work with business goals is vital—and behaviour driven development testing supports this alignment effectively.

Test Development Driven by Real User Behaviour in Mobile Automation

Cucumber promotes a test development driven process that keeps test scenarios close to real-world user behaviour. Tests are aligned with user stories and acceptance criteria, ensuring the features under development meet actual user needs. In contrast, TestNG follows a traditional unit testing model that may overlook high-level user goals.

Reusable Step Definitions for Scalable Test Automation

Cucumber encourages modularity. Its step definitions can be reused across multiple feature files, helping teams avoid duplication and maintain clean automation scripts. In contrast, TestNG demands distinct methods for each test case, often leading to more repetitive code and greater maintenance overhead.

Advanced Reporting for User Testing and AI Testing Insights

Reporting is another area where Cucumber excels. It offers detailed, scenario-based HTML and JSON reports, ideal for sharing with stakeholders during user testing or application creation phases. These visually structured reports contrast with TestNG’s default XML reports, which typically require third-party tools to gain similar clarity.

Addressing the Challenges of Behaviour Driven Development Testing with Cucumber

Despite its advantages, teams adopting behaviour driven development testing with Cucumber may face a few initial hurdles:

Learning Curve When Transitioning to Behaviour Driven Testing Tools

For teams unfamiliar with BDD in automation, adapting to Gherkin syntax and learning the Cucumber automation step-by-step workflow can be challenging. However, with proper onboarding and training, most testers adapt quickly and begin writing tests that align with business logic.

Performance Considerations in Mobile App Testing Using Appium

Cucumber introduces an abstraction layer through step definitions, which can slightly slow down execution when compared to TestNG’s direct calls. Still, optimising step definitions and avoiding redundant logic can significantly minimise this performance impact—especially in mobile app testing using Appium.

Integration Complexity with Legacy TestNG Frameworks in Mobile Automation

Teams migrating from a legacy TestNG-based framework may need to restructure their test suite to support Cucumber’s test driven testing model. A hybrid approach is useful here: continue using TestNG for unit-level testing, and adopt Cucumber for high-level functional and behavioural scenarios.

Implementing Behaviour Driven Development Testing with Cucumber and Appium

To implement Cucumber in mobile automation testing using Appium, begin by setting up a Maven-based project and installing required dependencies, including Selenium, Appium, Cucumber, and JUnit or TestNG.

Once the project is ready, write feature files using Gherkin syntax. These feature files describe user scenarios in plain language, which helps connect the automation effort to real-world usage. Next, implement step definitions in Java to map each scenario step to automation code. This mapping process is crucial for developing a robust and reusable automation testing test framework.

Run the tests using Cucumber’s test runner, which can be based on either JUnit or TestNG. With this setup, your mobile testing using Appium becomes more structured and easier to maintain. You can run the same tests across native, hybrid, or web-based mobile apps, supporting a wide range of tools in mobile automation.

Workflow and Reporting Comparison

Cucumber enhances collaboration through a clear workflow. Teams define features, create reusable steps, and link them with automation code. The resulting reports provide scenario-based execution logs, screenshots, and timestamps. These insights help testers identify failures quickly and report outcomes to the wider team.

In contrast, TestNG provides basic XML-based reports with standard test logs. While they suit technical audiences, they lack readability for business stakeholders. When working in cross-functional teams or aiming for ai driven development, this lack of visibility becomes a barrier.

Cucumber’s reporting fits well with test automation with AI, ai testing, and even selenium ai testing, as it supports structured logs that AI-based analytics tools can consume. This compatibility makes Cucumber future-ready for platform for AI workflows.

What We Learned

Cucumber improves communication, test design, and reporting in mobile app automation. It allows teams to align with business goals and embrace a test driven methodology based on user stories. While TestNG may offer faster execution, it lacks the readability and collaboration benefits that Cucumber provides.

By combining testing with Selenium Java, native app automation, and mobile app testing using Appium, Cucumber delivers a complete solution for modern testing automation. With training and optimisation, teams can maximise its potential and integrate it into their existing testing and automation pipelines.

Cucumber enhances test readability, collaboration, and alignment with business goals. While TestNG offers faster execution, Cucumber provides a structured and reusable framework for BDD-based testing. Integrating Cucumber with Selenium and Appium improves test maintainability and reporting. Overcoming initial learning challenges and optimising implementation can maximise the benefits of using Cucumber.

Conclusion

Cucumber support for behaviour driven development transforms how teams write and execute automated tests for mobile applications. It enhances test clarity, improves collaboration, and aligns more closely with business requirements compared to traditional tools like TestNG.

By understanding its advantages, addressing the challenges, and following a structured implementation approach, teams can adopt Cucumber confidently. Whether you are building AI tools for testing, integrating AI with Selenium, or exploring testing using AI, Cucumber provides a strong foundation for the future of mobile automation and it test automation in agile teams.

Looking to implement Cucumber BDD for your mobile application testing? Our experts can help you streamline your automation framework and improve testing efficiency. Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can support your testing needs!