COMPARE
EARS and Gherkin
A general behavioral requirement and a concrete scenario can check each other.
| Question | EARS | Gherkin |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | A requirement with context, trigger, and response | A scenario with preconditions, event, and observable outcome |
| Strength | State the rule consistently | Make an interpretation concrete |
| Boundary | Precise grammar can still encode an incomplete rule | A handful of passing scenarios cannot cover every case |
Try the distinction
“When a member loses access, deny future reads.” What scenario would test its scope?
Open the reasoning
Given membership has been revoked, when a new document read is requested, then access is denied. Explicitly decide whether in-flight requests and cached copies are covered; do not invent that scope.