Agile Acceptance Test-Driven Development: Requirements as Executable Tests

Overview

2 days.

Test-driven development (TDD) involves writing an executable test before the solution code. Unit TDD focuses on first writing a small unit test and using that to drive development of a small solution fragment. Similarly, acceptance TDD involves writing one or more systems-level acceptance tests (or “customer tests”) for a customer-centric feature, before the solution. This brings together product management, developers, and testers at the start of each iteration to clarify and align on the iteration goals and requirements, by speaking a common, useful, and relative unambiguous language: requirements as executable tests. This is enabled with free open source technologies such as FIT and Robot, both which support creating keyword-driven table-based executable tests. Thus, acceptance TDD is primarily a method that brings together the stakeholders early on to clarify requirements through examples as executable tests. The traditional lines between requirements and tests become blurred – in a good way.

In this hands-on, skills-rich workshop, you will learn the method of acceptance TDD, including how to approach requirements-as-tests and tests-as-requirements, the different kinds of FIT or Robot tests, how developers, product management and testers can work together from the start, and how to connect FIT or Robot tests to the underlying system.

A closely related concept is known as example-driven development; this is essentially the same as acceptance TDD, but emphasizes that the concepts and tools are used primarily in the context of examples, rather than full requirements clarification.

You will leave with practical skill in doing acceptance TDD and example-driven development, and a new vision of how to do requirements, testing and development.

Methods of Education

Discussion, presentation, Q&A, workshop exercises

Audience

Anyone involved in learning, sharing or executing requirements or tests for systems development: product management, developers, testers, technical leaders.

Level

Intermediate: This course introduces concepts and techniques that the attendee will apply during the workshop.

Prerequisites

general involvement in systems development as a product manager, tester, or developer

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

define acceptance TDD and example-driven development
facilitate a workshop where customers, product management, testers, and developers learn to align around a common language of requirements as executable tests
write requirements as executable tests using a keyword-based and table-based language
apply the FIT or Robot frameworks
explain the difference between declarative and imperative tests, and why use declarative tests

Outline

Acceptance TDD, example-driven development, and story/customer TDD
Behavior-Driven Development
Requirements and business rules as executable tests
Customer tests versus programmer tests
Table-based and keyword-based requirements/tests
Avoiding script testing and moving to declarative tests that emphasize business rules
Collaborative acceptance TDD development: test and requirement workshops
Robot Framework
Connecting Robot FW requirements/tests to the underlying system
Table and example requirements/tests in relationship to other kinds of testing
Variations of table-based requirements/tests
User stories, conditions of satisfaction, and acceptance TDD
Refactoring executable requirements

Related Courses

Before:

Maximum Participants

20

Environment - Room, Tools, Texts

Course Environment - Workshop Style6