Model-Based Testing Essentials - Guide to the ISTQB Certified Model-Based Tester

9EXECUTING MODEL-BASED TESTS

This chapter covers the learning objectives of syllabus Chapter 4 “MBT Test Implementation and Execution.”

9.1 UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS

9.1.1 How MBT Relates to Data- and Keyword-Driven Testing?

From mid-1980s, when the testing community seriously started to automate tests, there have been several approaches to test automation: capture and replay, linear scripting, and data-/keyword-driven scripting. All those approaches face a common challenge, that is, maintenance (see Ref. [43]), which they address more or less successfully:

• Capture and replay

  Capture/replay tools record user interactions with the system under test in a test script and let us replay them later. Pure capture and replay scripts are not adaptable. After each change of the interface, we have to record them again.

• Linear scripting

  Nonstructured test scripts (e.g., Python¹ scripts) interact directly with the system under test. We have to change them, each time test data or test actions change. This represents considerable maintenance effort.

• Data-driven scripting

  In data-driven scripting, the scripts themselves are parameterized and the concrete test data values are recorded in a file or spreadsheet called data table. Parameterized scripts are easier to maintain, but implementation changes (e.g., in the interface) may still affect a larger number test scripts.

• Keyword-driven scripting

  In keyword-driven testing, scripts are structured programming constructs based on action words ...