What is Behaviour-Driven Development? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) is a software development approach that extends Test-Driven Development (TDD) by writing tests in business-readable language that non-technical stakeholders can understand. BDD tests are written in Gherkin syntax (Given/When/Then format) and typically use frameworks like Cucumber (Java, Ruby) or Behat (PHP). The tests document both system behaviour and serve as automated acceptance tests.
Bdd in the UK
BDD has specific value for UK compliance-sensitive software. For FCA regulated FinTech: BDD acceptance tests written in plain English ("Given a customer with a payment dispute, When they raise a complaint, Then the case is registered within FCA's required timeframe") provide compliance documentation that non-technical auditors can understand. For DTAC Domain 5 (Usability): BDD scenarios for user journeys provide evidence of user-need-driven development. ClickMasters uses BDD for compliance-critical user journeys — the Given/When/Then format makes acceptance criteria unambiguous and testable.
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