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Acceptance Testing

What are Acceptance Tests?​

Acceptance tests are high-level tests that verify whether a system meets the business requirements and user expectations. They serve as a final checkpoint before software is released to production, confirming that the delivered solution is ready for use.

What Should Acceptance Tests Focus On?​

  • Validating Business Requirements: Ensure the software fulfills the agreed-upon business goals and specifications.
  • User Perspective: Reflect real-world usage scenarios that represent how end-users will interact with the system.
  • End-to-End Workflows: Test complete functional flows that may span multiple system components.
  • Clarity and Readability: Tests should be understandable by both technical teams and business stakeholders.
  • Quality and Usability: Besides correctness, tests can assess usability and alignment with user expectations.

How Do Acceptance Tests Align with BDD?​

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) is a development approach that strongly supports the creation and maintenance of acceptance tests. Here’s how acceptance testing and BDD work together:

  • Shared Understanding: BDD promotes collaborative creation of test scenarios (often in Gherkin syntax) involving developers, testers, and business representatives, which fosters a clear, common understanding of desired system behavior.
  • Acceptance Tests as BDD Scenarios: Acceptance criteria are often written as BDD scenarios, describing system behavior in concrete situations and use cases.
  • Automation Friendly: BDD scenarios can be automated, making acceptance tests repeatable and easily integrated into continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.
  • Improved Communication: The natural-language style of BDD scenarios bridges the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Early Issue Detection: Defining expected behaviors before development helps catch misunderstandings and requirements gaps early.

Summary​

Acceptance testing ensures the system delivers business value and meets user needs. When combined with BDD, it enhances communication, automates validation, and streamlines the delivery of high-quality software.