Introduction

TestArchitect’s technology is based on a methodology called Action Based Testing (ABT). This chapter provides an introduction to ABT, which can be used for any type of testing, but has demonstrated its greatest benefit in automated testing.

ABT is a keyword-based approach to testing. For test automation in general, there are roughly three widely used approaches today:

• record and playback, also known as capture and replay
• scripting, also known as programming
• keywords, of which Action Based Testing is an advanced form

Record and Playback
The metaphor for record and playback is the test tool as a tape recorder.

Scripting
Scripting, or programming, commonly refers to a process in which test cases are first developed by testers, usually in verbal form, and then automated, usually by a specialized automation engineer.

Keywords, Action Based Testing™
In a keyword approach, the tester creates the test cases as a series of keywords with arguments.