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Cucumber VS Codeception

Compare Cucumber VS Codeception and see what are their differences

Cucumber logo Cucumber

Cucumber is a BDD tool for specification of application features and user scenarios in plain text.

Codeception logo Codeception

Codeception is a new full-stack testing PHP framework.
  • Cucumber Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-19
  • Codeception Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-03

Cucumber features and specs

  • Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) Framework
    Cucumber supports BDD, allowing collaboration between developers, testers, and non-technical stakeholders to improve the quality of development through clear specifications.
  • Gherkin Syntax
    Utilizes the Gherkin language to write test cases in plain English, making them more readable and understandable for non-technical team members.
  • Integrates with Other Tools
    Easily integrates with other testing and development frameworks like JUnit, TestNG, and Selenium, enhancing its flexibility and utility.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source tool, Cucumber allows for extensive customization and community support, reducing the cost of setting up a testing framework.
  • Supports Multiple Languages
    Offers support for various programming languages including Java, Ruby, and JavaScript, making it versatile for different project needs.

Possible disadvantages of Cucumber

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Requires a good understanding of both BDD practices and Cucumberโ€™s structure, which might be challenging for beginners.
  • Performance Overheads
    Execution of Cucumber tests can be slower compared to other testing frameworks, making it less ideal for very large projects requiring fast feedback loops.
  • Verbose Code
    Writing tests in Gherkin can lead to more verbose code, which might require additional maintenance and can become cumbersome over time.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies for integrating Cucumber with other testing frameworks can be complex, requiring careful coordination.
  • Not Ideal for Unit Testing
    Cucumber is more suited for acceptance and integration testing rather than unit testing, potentially necessitating additional tools for a comprehensive testing strategy.

Codeception features and specs

  • Unified Testing Framework
    Codeception allows you to write tests for unit, functional, and acceptance testing in one framework, offering a consistent interface and reducing the need to switch between tools.
  • BDD Support
    Codeception supports Behavior Driven Development (BDD) which enables writing human-readable test scenarios, making it easier for non-developers to understand test cases.
  • Modular Architecture
    Codeceptionโ€™s modular architecture makes it highly extensible and customizable, allowing the reuse of modules and integration with popular frameworks like Symfony, Laravel, and Yii.
  • Comprehensive Suite of Helpers
    It offers a wide range of helper modules for various tasks and integrations, such as interacting with web pages and SOAP/REST APIs, which simplifies the setup of tests.
  • Active Community and Documentation
    Codeception has an active community and comprehensive documentation, which provides support and examples for most use cases.

Possible disadvantages of Codeception

  • Complex Setup for Beginners
    The flexibility and feature set of Codeception might be overwhelming for newcomers, requiring more time to understand and correctly set up the environment.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Codeceptionโ€™s comprehensive range of functionalities and modularity may result in a steeper learning curve compared to simpler testing frameworks.
  • Overhead for Small Projects
    For small projects, Codeception might be an overkill due to its complex configuration and multitude of features, which might not all be needed.
  • Heavy Dependency on PHP
    As Codeception is a PHP-based testing framework, teams using multiple languages or technologies might require separate solutions for non-PHP environments.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running complete acceptance tests through browsers can lead to performance overhead, especially for large test suites, possibly requiring more infrastructure and time.

Analysis of Cucumber

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Cucumber (cukes.info) is generally considered a good tool for behavior-driven development (BDD).

Why this product is good

  • Cucumber is highly regarded because it allows teams to write tests in plain language that can be understood by all stakeholders, regardless of technical expertise. This enhances communication and collaboration between developers, testers, and business professionals. Furthermore, it supports various programming languages and integrates well with other tools, making it versatile and adaptable to different engineering environments.

Recommended for

  • Teams practicing behavior-driven development (BDD)
  • Projects that require clear communication between non-technical and technical team members
  • Development environments where automated testing is an integral part of the process
  • Organizations aiming to improve collaboration and understanding across departments

Cucumber videos

Madam Kilay Skin Magical Review / Orange cucumber review

More videos:

  • Review - Puff Bar - Cucumber Review (Best Disposable Vape Brand)
  • Review - THE CUCUMBER CHALLENGE! (1 MILLION SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL)
  • Tutorial - Cucumber automation suit

Codeception videos

Our First Acceptance Test [6/24] Codeception & Symfony2

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Run Codeception Tests [5/24] Codeception & Symfony2
  • Review - Bootstrapping Codeception [2/24] Codeception & Symfony2

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cucumber and Codeception)
Automated Testing
68 68%
32% 32
Testing
81 81%
19% 19
Browser Testing
42 42%
58% 58
Website Testing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cucumber and Codeception

Cucumber Reviews

Top Selenium Alternatives
Cucumber itself is not a test automation tool but a framework that supports BDD. It is often used in conjunction with Selenium to provide a layer where test scenarios are written in a way that is understandable by all team members. Unlike Selenium, which focuses on automating browser actions, Cucumber focuses on defining behavior and can be used to drive Selenium tests.
Source: bugbug.io
5 Selenium Alternatives to Fill in Your Top Testing Gaps
Business testers are likely to prefer to use Cucumber over Selenium since script Cucumber lets you write test scenarios using a plain-English scripting language called Gherkin. Using Gherkin instead of code makes test script creation a much simpler process, since anyone can read, write, and understand the scripts regardless of testing experience.
Source: www.perfecto.io
Top 20 Best Automation Testing Tools in 2018 (Comprehensive List)
Cucumber is an open-source tool that is designed over the concept of BDD (Behavior-driven development). It is used to perform the automated acceptance testing by running the examples that best describe the behavior of the application. It gets you a single up-to-date living document that is having both specification and test documentation.

Codeception Reviews

We have no reviews of Codeception yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Codeception should be more popular than Cucumber. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cucumber mentions (1)

Codeception mentions (8)

  • Any pro-tips for writing automated tests with Selenium PHP?
    Personal experience: - donโ€™t use Behat unless you really needed a โ€œstory tellingโ€, it has a intermediate layer Gherkin that youโ€™ll need to code. You can write โ€œGiven/When/Thenโ€ steps but youโ€™ll also need to write โ€œphp codeโ€ that will interpret this step. - using real browser be prepared for instability - any interaction with JavaScript can broken/delay execution - be prepared that this tests are call functional... Source: over 3 years ago
  • PHPUnit, do i need to learn it?
    Codeception: https://codeception.com/. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Advice for an older symfony 4.4 project
    I would say to check out Codeception. Codeceptions has modules for Symfony and database generally. Long and short of it is that if you want you can run api tests that go into the controllers and rollback the database afterwards. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Automating Tests using CodeceptJS and Testomat.io: First Steps
    There are enough blog posts about Jest or Cypress already, so let me introduce Codecept. It comes in two flavors. There is Codeception for PHP, and there is CodeceptJS for JavaScript which we will be using here. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • Testing PHP Applications
    There are many tools you can use for this purpose, but one I particularly like is CodeCeption. What I like most about it is that it's a unified tool that can be used to perform several types of tests, acceptance being one of them. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cucumber and Codeception, you can also consider the following products

Selenium - Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that.

PHPUnit - Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and Testing Frameworks

JUnit - JUnit is a simple framework to write repeatable tests.

TestMu AI (Formerly LambdaTest) - Worldโ€™s first full-stack Agentic AI Quality Engineering platform.

RSpec - RSpec is a testing tool for the Ruby programming language born under the banner of Behavior-Driven Development featuring a rich command line program, textual descriptions of examples, and more.

CrossBrowserTesting - Browser Testing made simple! Run automated, visual, and manual tests on 1500+ real browsers and mobile devices. Test more browsers, in less time.