What is Data-driven Testing?

Data-driven testing is a method in software testing where the test scenario is executed multiple times by changing the test inputs.

Test cases are created based on data from external files like Excel, CSV, or databases. This approach allows testing different variations by changing the input data while keeping the test logic constant. It helps efficiently test multiple data sets and ensures comprehensive test coverage.

Data-Driven Testing

Parameterization is used in data-driven testing, where test cases are executed multiple times with different sets of input data stored in external files or databases. Note that Selenium does not provide testers with any data-driven testing capabilities. You have code tests using programming languages or test frameworks. For example, the TestNG framework provides annotation support to data drive the @Test annotated method using the @Parameter annotation.

@Parameter TestNG annoation

The @Parameter TestNG annotation provides parameters to a test method. It allows you to pass parameters to your test methods directly from the testng.xml suite file. This annotation helps create data-driven tests by allowing you to run the same test with different data values. It’s a powerful feature that enhances the flexibility and reusability of your test scripts.

In the next lessons, you will learn a similar approach using the Python test.