Difference between Cucumber Testing and Selenium Testing

When it comes to software development, testing is crucial. It helps you in making sure that the code you write is functioning properly and hasn’t broken any existing code. Most likely, if you are developing web apps, you are already familiar with Selenium Testing and Cucumber. These are two very well-liked options. But why do they do it? Which one should I pick, and how do they work together? Check out the Selenium training online to learn more about Selenium.

What is Selenium Testing

An automated tool for testing web applications is called Selenium Testing. It facilitates browser automation. Quite evident, don’t you think? Or is it simply a general statement that begs more questions than it answers?  

Let’s examine one example. 

You create an online program. After finishing, you should test it. Thus, you’ll use Chrome to open it. Make that everything is operating as it should by clicking the Menu symbol and navigating around. However, not everyone uses Chrome, so you now have to repeat the entire process in Safari, Firefox, and on all other browsers and devices that the user may be using. This is quite laborious. The more into the browser grid you go, the more the load increases.

Every minor adjustment you make to your application must also be tested on all these browsers. Thus pushing any QA into the rabbit hole.

Selenium steps in to save the day here. 

All you need to do to use Selenium Testing is write tests. You can automate the entire procedure using these tests. Almost every use case, including testing parts, functionality, behaviour, etc., can have tests written for it. These tests are automatically run by Selenium Testing across all the browsers you specify. 

All of the main programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, PHP, and Java, are supported by Selenium. Additionally, Selenium Testing uses the browser-specific driver to conduct all of the tests for supported browsers. This implies that installing an extra driver is all that is required to run tests on the extra browser.  

Advantages of Using Selenium

• It automates cross-browser testing
• It is Open-source
• It supports multiple tabs
• It is well-documented
• It can be written in any popular programming languages 

Disadvantages of Using Selenium Testing

• It requires browser-specific driver
• It doesn’t have a built-in reporting tool
• It has challenges with handling iframes 
• The user needs to be familiar with some programming language

What is Cucumber

The tool used to write behaviour-driven tests is called Cucumber. However, let’s define behaviour-driven tests first.

Maybe you’ve written generic tests before. Typically, the process involves locating an element selector, using it to examine its contents, and comparing the result to what was intended. You can characterise behaviour using behaviour-driven development (BDD) testing. You describe the user requirements in prose that are legible by humans. Tests are run as a result of this content. Here’s where cucumber becomes useful. You can turn the text into the testing code with this tool. For example, you can use Cucumber to explain some intended user behaviour if there are several unit tests. These tests frequently specify features’ acceptance scenarios.

There are two parts to writing Cucumber tests: steps and features.

• Steps: steps are functions. These functions assist you in carrying out a test. This could be any action the user takes, such as opening a web application, clicking an element, typing text into an input form, etc. These functions have text that triggers them and are written in the programming language of your choice.
• Features: Your writing is included in the scenarios found in the features. They begin describing behaviour with keywords, and Cucumber associates those statements with the appropriate action to take.

Using the example might make things a little easier. 

• Scenario: Clicking the icon causes the menu to appear.
• After loading the landing page
• A menu will appear when you click the menu item.

There are four lines in the sample above. 

• First line: This is the scenario line, which only indicates that the test scenario has begun. Something along the lines of a synopsis of the test’s activities.
• Second line: This first used step, and based on its description, we may infer that the step code will cause the browser to open the application’s landing page.
• Third line: This step will click on the menu item after the page loads. The reasoning would use a selector for the page’s menu icon and initiate a click event on it.
• Fourth line: Step checking to see if the menu is visible is triggered by the last line. It is really clear and easy to grasp from the way it is written above. There would be a menu element selection, nevertheless, in the step specification once more. Subsequently, the code would attempt to retrieve that element and determine its existence and visibility.

As you can see, tests designed in this manner are simple for business users and developers to understand. Why would we want non-technical individuals to be able to understand code, you could ask? It’s a valid question, too. But getting both sides to agree on a discourse is more important than them comprehending the code. Behaviour-driven testing can be utilised in your ticket to directly match criteria.

Advantages of Using Cucumber

• Because it is readable by humans, businesspeople can comprehend it.
• Because steps employ human-readable text, they may be written in any computer language and used to describe user needs.

Disadvantages of using Cucumber 

• For scenarios to be accurately described, users must be involved.
• It requires that steps and scenarios be kept up to date.

Differences Between Cucumber and Selenium

The following are some distinctions between cucumber and selenium:

• Unlike Selenium tests, Cucumber tests are written in plain English, making them easier to read and write.
• Java is used to write Selenium Testing, while Ruby is used to write Cucumber.
• Before utilising Selenium Testing, you manually run the Cucumber tests at the start of the project. Nevertheless, if you want Cucumber tests to run automatically, you might also need to write them independently of Selenium tests.
• Whether you use Gherkin or Cucumber alone, you can utilise tools like Rake to automate test cases later on in a build process so they run even before end users are integrated into the system. At the end of the procedure, Selenium tests need to be automated.
• Cucumber is a behavioural testing tool, while Selenium is a framework for test automation.
• Cucumber is written in both plain text and programming languages, while Selenium is developed in languages like Java,.Net, etc.
• Cucumber does not accept conditional statements, although Selenium does.
• In Selenium, test scripts are written based on requirements; in Cucumber, however, scenarios are prepared first.
• While Cucumber was easier to build, Selenium scripts were more difficult.
• While writing a script, it is rather simple to spot syntactic problems; in contrast, Cucumber does not allow for error detection.
• Perl, Python, Java, PHP, .NET, and other languages are supported by Selenium.

When Is It Better to Use Selenium Rather Than Cucumber?

Selenium Testing is better suited for handling simple coding issues. Because of its flexibility, it enables the automation of many testing tasks like stress testing, performance testing, cross-browser and cross-platform testing, and browser-based regression testing.

Why Selenium Is More Reliable than Cucumber

With Selenium’s built-in feature set, you can manipulate browsers in any situation and dictate exactly what appears on each page. The best thing about Selenium is that the output resembles an image exactly, much like what happens on the computer screen.

If you want to build tests for online apps, Selenium Testing should be your first choice because it can be effective when utilised properly. As a result, we advise you to begin with Selenium and study Cucumber later.

Conclusion Selenium Testing and Cucumber are two great programs for automated software testing. Each has benefits, but the ideal option is the one that best meets your requirements. Cucumber is wonderful for behaviour-driven testing, and Selenium is ideal for automating web applications. If you’re looking for a tool to assist with your web testing, Selenium is a great choice. Cucumber is an excellent choice if you’re searching for a tool to assist with behaviour-driven testing. To learn more about Selenium, check out the Selenium certification course online.