ICT Knowledge Hub: Gherkin is dead, long live BDD?

Text-based BDD (with Gherkin) has helped bridge the gap between specification and implementation. Yet many organizations struggle with recurring challenges: the high effort of creating and maintaining scenarios, limited expressiveness, and little insight into coverage and quality.

TNO ESI is exploring how model-based approaches can provide a powerful alternative. Instead of relying on manually written scenarios, formal models become the basis for test generation, impact analysis, regression test selection, and quality assessment. This shift promises more efficient collaboration, deeper insights into risks, and opens up new opportunities for integrating AI into BDD.

In this session, we will jointly explore:

• The limitations of text-based BDD and their impact in practice.
• How model-based approaches can strengthen and extend BDD.
• Insights and examples from ongoing research projects.
• First impressions of using LLMs to migrate legacy tests (GTest) into a Gherkin-based BDD framework, and to support users in creating models.

Agenda (21 October)

📍 Location: Professor Doctor Dorgelolaan 30, 5613 AM Eindhoven.
✨ A unique opportunity to explore how BDD is evolving — and how model-based approaches and AI play a role in shaping its future.