cucumber-best-practices

# Cucumber Best Practices

Master patterns and practices for effective Cucumber testing.

## Scenario Design Principles

### 1. Write Declarative Scenarios

Focus on **what** needs to happen, not **how** it happens.

❌ **Imperative** (implementation-focused):

```gherkin
Scenario: Add product to cart
  Given I navigate to "http://shop.com/products"
  When I find the element with CSS ".product[data-id='123']"
  And I click the button with class "add-to-cart"
  And I wait for the AJAX request to complete
  Then the element ".cart-count" should contain "1"
```

✅ **Declarative** (business-focused):

```gherkin
Scenario: Add product to cart
  Given I am browsing products
  When I add "Wireless Headphones" to my cart
  Then my cart should contain 1 item
```

### 2. One Scenario, One Behavior

Each scenario should test exactly one business rule or behavior.

❌ **Multiple behaviors in one scenario:**

```gherkin
Scenario: User registration and login and profile update
  Given I register a new account
  When I log in
  And I update my profile
  And I change my password
  Then everything should work
```

✅ **Separate scenarios:**

```gherkin
Scenario: Register new account
  When I register with valid details
  Then I should receive a confirmation email

Scenario: Login with new account
  Given I have registered an account
  When I log in with my credentials
  Then I should see my dashboard

Scenario: Update profile
  Given I am logged in
  When I update my profile information
  Then my changes should be saved
```

### 3. Keep Scenarios Independent

Each scenario should set up its own preconditions.

❌ **Dependent scenarios:**

```gherkin
Scenario: Create order
  When I create order #12345

Scenario: View order
  When I view order #12345  # Depends on previous scenario!
```

✅ **Independent scenarios:**

```gherkin
Scenario: View order
  Given an order exists with ID "12345"
  When I view the order details
  Then I should see the order information
```

### 4. Use Background W