When testing web apps with Cucumber, what’s the best way to share step definitions between Selenium and a headless browser? Should I use global conditions or separate definitions?
i reckon a driver wrapper using a config flag can solve that. it lets you decide the driver on the fly while keeping steps untouched, saving you from repeating definitions for different drivers. this approach seems both flexible and simple to maintain.
In my experience, the most efficient approach was to decouple the actual step definitions from the browser-specific implementation. I created a common device layer that abstracts the underlying driver and used a factory pattern to decide whether the test should run on a Selenium or a headless browser instance. This design allowed the same steps to operate on different drivers by injecting the proper implementation at runtime. Setting it up required some configuration work, but it enhanced code reuse and greatly simplified maintenance over the long term.
I have found that implementing a driver factory that activates the correct browser environment at runtime works exceptionally well. This approach abstracts the browser specifics away from the step definitions. Instead of hardcoding logic into each step, you create an adaptable service that decides whether to instantiate Selenium or a headless driver based on configuration parameters. This method has allowed me to avoid redundancy and keep the test scripts uniform. I discovered that even with added complexity at the factory level, maintenance becomes simpler and the overall framework remains flexible over time.
In my experience, using dependency injection alongside a common driver interface has proven effective. I configure my test environment to load the appropriate browser driver based on external configuration, so the same step definition calls work for both Selenium and headless drivers. Rather than duplicating code or using global conditions, I set up a context that provides driver instances to the steps at runtime. This keeps the implementation simple and maintainable while ensuring that tests remain consistent regardless of the chosen browser environment.
i prefer using a config based factory so steps stay the same no matter which driver is in play. it means a bit more config upfront but absoltely saves repeating code and hassle later on.