Karate, an open-source framework is used for API test automation. Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) framework’s Gherkin syntax is used for writing API tests in Karate.
But Karate retains its differences from other BDD frameworks, such as JBehave, Specflow, and Cucumber. The key point of difference in Karate from these BDD frameworks is that in Karate, all the step definitions are already written for us, so, we need not have to worry about writing them again. This way, even non-developers can easily write API tests for the services.
What is Karate Framework?
Karate is a path-breaking API test automation tool in several ways. Through the current times, the finest way to reduce repetitive and manual work is to adopt an automation first mindset. When we think in this way, we can move quickly and this also induces work efficiency.
When one is freed from the burden of work that is repetitive and mundane, the focus can shift to solving problems. This creates value in the Software Development Life Cycle. Karate helps in this regard because it is a tool that is easy to maintain and helps us write automated tests quickly.
Numerous developers and corporate organizations from around the world use Karate for writing automated tests and are delighted with the results. They are empowered to switch their focus upon improving automation coverage and figure out even more areas where they can reduce the effort in manual testing. While they can turn their focus to real problems, avoiding false alarms is simplified as well. A team can use Karate for writing automated tests even if they have limited knowledge of programming.
What Are The Features Of Karate Framework?
Karate is an open-source framework that is used to automate testing of APIs, web services, and microservices. Some of the key features of the Karate framework are:
1. Karate supports Behavior Driven Development (BDD) syntax, which makes test cases easy to write and read.
2. The framework supports both HTTP and HTTPS protocols, enabling testing of RESTful APIs, SOAP web services, and GraphQL.
3. Karate is a zero-config framework, which means that no additional setup or configuration is required.
4. The framework supports both JSON and XML formats, which makes testing APIs that use these formats easy.
5. Karate supports data-driven testing, enabling the same test case to be run with different data sets.
6. The framework includes a powerful assertion engine, supporting various types of assertions for API response validation.
Let us take a look at the pros and cons of Karate:
PROS
– Easy to start with little coding.
– Karate features native JSON support and one can write JSON expressions right within feature files.
– Karate features a very powerful JSON validation.
– In Karate, one can do coding in JS or java.
– Karate features a multi-thread parallel execution.
– It has detailed logs and reporting.
– By integrating the Gatling framework, performance testing can also be conducted.
CONS
– Karate uses its own scripting language
– There is no IntelliSense support in IDE
– Finding errors in code is not easy
Read More : How To Automate API Test Cases Using Rest Assured?
Conclusion
Essentially, karate framework is the only open-source tool that combines API automation testing, performance-testing, mocks, and UI automation as well into a single and unified framework. The BDD syntax that Cucumber has gone on to popularize is language-neutral, which makes it easy for nonprogrammers as well.
One of the reasons why Karate is most preferred API testing framework is that it works well even for teams that are not comfortable with Java. With Karate, one does not have to compile the code. Instead, one merely has to write tests in a syntax that is readable and simple. The syntax should be designed carefully for HTTP, JSON, GraphQL, and XML. This way, one can mix API and UI test automation within the same script.
A Java API is also available for the users who prefer a programmatic integration of Karate’s rich data-assertion and automation capabilities.
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