Cucumber vs Robot Framework

Overview

Cucumber

Stacks1.4K

Followers927

Votes36

Robot Framework

Stacks344

Followers525

Votes120

Cucumber vs Robot Framework: What are the differences?

Cucumber and Robot Framework are popular open-source testing frameworks that offer different approaches to test automation. Here are the key differences between Cucumber and Robot Framework:

Language and Syntax: Cucumber is primarily associated with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) and is written in the Gherkin language. Gherkin uses a simple syntax with keywords like Given, When, and Then to describe test scenarios in a human-readable format. Robot Framework, on the other hand, uses a keyword-driven approach and supports plain text, tabular, and reStructuredText formats for test case definition. It allows testers to write test cases using keywords and parameters, making it easy to understand and maintain.
Flexibility and Extensibility: Cucumber offers more flexibility in terms of programming languages as it supports multiple languages. This allows teams to write tests in their preferred language. In contrast, Robot Framework is implemented using Python and primarily supports Python for writing test cases. However, it also provides support for other languages through external libraries. Robot Framework's extensibility is one of its strengths, as it allows users to create custom libraries and keywords.
Test Execution and Reporting: Cucumber supports the execution of tests across different platforms and environments using various test runners. It provides integration with popular test frameworks like JUnit and TestNG, allowing test execution and reporting in different formats. Cucumber also offers HTML-based reports for easy visualization of test results. Robot Framework, on the other hand, provides a standalone test execution engine and generates detailed HTML reports with logs, screenshots, and test case statuses. It also offers built-in support for parallel test execution.
Ecosystem and Community Support: Cucumber has a large and active community with extensive documentation, tutorials, and community-driven plugins and integrations. It is widely used in the BDD community, which promotes collaboration between developers, testers, and stakeholders. Robot Framework also has a strong community support with a rich ecosystem of libraries and integrations. It offers a wide range of built-in libraries for various testing needs and supports integration with tools like Selenium, Appium, and databases.

In summary, Cucumber focuses on Behavior-Driven Development and uses a Gherkin syntax for test scenario description. It provides flexibility in terms of supported languages and has large community support. Robot Framework, on the other hand, uses a keyword-driven approach, primarily supports Python, and offers extensibility through custom libraries. It provides detailed HTML reports and has a strong ecosystem of libraries and integrations.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

Cucumber	Robot Framework
Cucumber is a tool that supports Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) - a software development process that aims to enhance software quality and reduce maintenance costs.	It is a generic test automation framework for acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development. It has easy-to-use tabular test data syntax and it utilizes the keyword-driven testing approach. Its testing capabilities can be extended by test libraries implemented either with Python or Java, and users can create new higher-level keywords from existing ones using the same syntax that is used for creating test cases.
Statistics
Stacks 1.4K	Stacks 344
Followers 927	Followers 525
Votes 36	Votes 120
Pros & Cons
Pros 20 Simple Syntax 8 Simple usage 5 Huge community 3 Nice report	Pros 23 Easy with CI/CD 22 Open Source 21 Simple Usage 14 Easily extendable 13 Vast Scope more than Front End Cons 8 Nested Loops 1 Devtooling is not there 1 Mostly for python 0 Extensive library support 0 Mobile supports

What are some alternatives to Cucumber, Robot Framework?

Karate DSL

Combines API test-automation, mocks and performance-testing into a single, unified framework. The BDD syntax popularized by Cucumber is language-neutral, and easy for even non-programmers. Besides powerful JSON & XML assertions, you can run tests in parallel for speed - which is critical for HTTP API testing.

TestCafe

It is a pure node.js end-to-end solution for testing web apps. It takes care of all the stages: starting browsers, running tests, gathering test results and generating reports.

Spock Framework

It is a testing and specification framework for Java and Groovy applications. What makes it stand out from the crowd is its beautiful and highly expressive specification language. It is compatible with most IDEs, build tools, and continuous integration servers.

Selenide

It is a library for writing concise, readable, boilerplate-free tests in Java using Selenium WebDriver.

Capybara

Capybara helps you test web applications by simulating how a real user would interact with your app. It is agnostic about the driver running your tests and comes with Rack::Test and Selenium support built in. WebKit is supported through an external gem.

PHPUnit

PHPUnit is a programmer-oriented testing framework for PHP. It is an instance of the xUnit architecture for unit testing frameworks.

Detox

High velocity native mobile development requires us to adopt continuous integration workflows, which means our reliance on manual QA has to drop significantly. It tests your mobile app while it's running in a real device/simulator, interacting with it just like a real user.

Imagium

Imagium provides AI based visual testing solution for various forms of testing. It makes the job easier for QA Automation, Mobile Testers, DevOps and Compliance teams. Imagium is easy to integrate with any programing language

Codeception

Full-stack testing framework for PHP. Run browsers tests, framework tests, APIs tests, unit tests with ease.

react-testing-library

It is a simple and complete React DOM testing utility that encourage good testing practices. It provides light utility functions on top of react-dom and react-dom/test-utils, in a way that encourages better testing practices.

Related Comparisons

Language and Syntax: Cucumber is primarily associated with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) and is written in the Gherkin language. Gherkin uses a simple syntax with keywords like Given, When, and Then to describe test scenarios in a human-readable format. Robot Framework, on the other hand, uses a keyword-driven approach and supports plain text, tabular, and reStructuredText formats for test case definition. It allows testers to write test cases using keywords and parameters, making it easy to understand and maintain.
Flexibility and Extensibility: Cucumber offers more flexibility in terms of programming languages as it supports multiple languages. This allows teams to write tests in their preferred language. In contrast, Robot Framework is implemented using Python and primarily supports Python for writing test cases. However, it also provides support for other languages through external libraries. Robot Framework's extensibility is one of its strengths, as it allows users to create custom libraries and keywords.
Test Execution and Reporting: Cucumber supports the execution of tests across different platforms and environments using various test runners. It provides integration with popular test frameworks like JUnit and TestNG, allowing test execution and reporting in different formats. Cucumber also offers HTML-based reports for easy visualization of test results. Robot Framework, on the other hand, provides a standalone test execution engine and generates detailed HTML reports with logs, screenshots, and test case statuses. It also offers built-in support for parallel test execution.
Ecosystem and Community Support: Cucumber has a large and active community with extensive documentation, tutorials, and community-driven plugins and integrations. It is widely used in the BDD community, which promotes collaboration between developers, testers, and stakeholders. Robot Framework also has a strong community support with a rich ecosystem of libraries and integrations. It offers a wide range of built-in libraries for various testing needs and supports integration with tools like Selenium, Appium, and databases.

Cucumber vs Robot Framework