[algorithmmonkey]

Thank you for the heads up about ruby devs liking *nix tools and not ide's.

The fact of the matter is grep is a poor tool to try to find your step definitions. There are tools out there that are much better for such things, vim with http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2973, or an ide or <your favorite tool>.

You could make the claim that any abstraction is unnecessary if you see no value in it. It doesn't mean others will not find value in it.

Personally, I find it quite easy to understand and convey to non-devs the stories told through gherkin. That is part of the value prop for me.

If no one is reading them but the devs, I'd rather use something other than gherkin.