Static Keywords in Rest Assured

In Rest Assured, static imports are commonly used to make the code more readable and concise. These static methods and fields are part of Rest Assured’s core library and help define request specifications, assertions, and configurations effortlessly. Rest Assured uses a lot of static methods (given(), when(), then()) for clean and readable code.

What Are Static Methods? Static methods are like "universal tools" that belong to a class, not a specific object. Think of them as a calculator in your home. Anyone in the house can use it without owning it personally, and it works the same way for everyone.

Why Use Static Methods in Rest Assured? In Rest Assured, static methods are used to make writing API tests easier and cleaner. You don’t need to keep creating objects to call these methods—you just call them directly. This makes your code look simple and less repetitive.

How Static Methods Work in Rest Assured When you see code like this given() .baseUri("api.example.com") .when() .get("/users") .then() .statusCode(200); given(): Prepares the API request. when(): Specifies the trigger (like calling the API). then(): Verifies the response (e.g., checking the status code). These methods (like given, when, then) are static. You don’t need to create an object of Rest Assured to use them. You can call them directly because they’re available to everyone, like the calculator.

Why Are Static Methods Useful in Testing?

No Extra Work: You don’t need to write additional code to create an object before using the methods. This saves time and effort. Easy to Read: Static methods make the code look like natural language. For example:

given() .baseUri("example.com") .header("Authorization", "Bearer token") .when() .get("/endpoint") .then() .statusCode(200); This reads like a step-by-step instruction of what you’re doing.

Reusable: Static methods are always available, so you can use them in multiple test cases without worrying about setting them up again.

Analogy Imagine you’re in a kitchen:

The oven is like a static method. It’s available to everyone in the kitchen; you don’t need to "own" it to bake something. If you had to bring your own oven to the kitchen, it would take time and space (like creating objects). Static methods save you from this hassle.