The three core principles behind the /glossary/hitch_test_description_language are /glossary/DRY, /glossary/test_readability and simplicity.
That is:
- The test cases should be as short as possible while still communicating everything that they need to.
- Readability and simplicity are paramount - which means dispensing with superfluous syntax and key words, and the need for custom parser engines.
Given/When/Then are key words used to signal to a person writing the test the kind of pattern it should follow.
However, when the test case is finished, the meaning of the steps should be implicit anyway, and since all test cases should follow this pattern to some extent, the presence of the keywords becomes more superfluous the more test cases you read and write.
The terms have no meaning to the /glossary/execution_engine and are typically ignored.
Note
You are still able to use the terms given, when and then in your test step names with hitch, you are just not forced to do so.