Keyword-Driven Testing
Keyword-driven testing describes test steps as a sequence of predefined keywords — "Click", "EnterText", "VerifyText" — that map to reusable automation code, letting non-programmers assemble tests from a spreadsheet or table without writing script code directly.
Underneath, each keyword is backed by a small piece of automation code that performs the actual action. A tester building a test case doesn't write "click the button with id #submit" in code — they write a row that says Keyword: Click, Element: SubmitButton, and the framework translates that into the actual automated action.
The tradeoff is a layer of indirection: keyword-driven frameworks take real upfront investment to build the keyword library, and can be harder to debug when something fails, since the failure surfaces at the keyword layer rather than directly in readable code. It's most common in organizations with a large non-technical manual testing team transitioning toward automation.
