The emergence of Microservice architecture and the advancements in technology has transformed the way applications are being developed nowadays. Rather than building a single monolithic system, software development, or mobile app development companies are focussing on modern architectures that are scattered within mobile devices and web browsers. This helps application users to gain undisrupted and quick access to services at any time from any part of the globe. When compared to legacy applications, these modern applications are no longer self-contained because they are composed of multiple service components that are tied together at runtime. Therefore, the application user experience is not powered by the elegant user interface we all use, but by Application Programming Interface. These APIs are the building blocks that efficiently facilitate interactions between code modules, applications and back-end IT systems.
Therefore to ensure the proper working of an application, testing strategies must be changed. Software development and testing companies must invest in better testing infrastructure and test labs to successfully test each layer of the application, as well as the end-to-end business transactions. Modern applications or software thus require comprehensive API testing in addition to traditional UI testing.
What’s Ahead?
Why The API Testing is Better Than Traditional UI Testing
Every software or application has to undergo testing once the software development life cycle is complete. For this several enterprises leverage traditional UI testing practices that are only concerned with the functionality of the complete application. In such cases, the tester provides a routine input that could be quite similar to all the applications and analyses the output based on expected outcomes.
This is where API testing proves to be unique and much better than Traditional UI testing.
Because Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the fundamental hub of logic in an application and the gateway to data for several services, the use cases are near-limitless. As a result, the number of required tests quickly surpasses the capabilities of the development and technical testers responsible for test case design. Modern applications are complex and one API may link together several microservices and other APIs. Therefore, a single call on an API in a microservice-based application, for example, Netflix may trigger any number of parallel and serial actions. Netflix officials can thus track the performance of each service easily and quickly isolate its issues from other running services. For example, there will be a separate microservice for application login and another for predicting the next best movie or series. Therefore by testing the application as a whole, small minor errors in these individual services will be difficult to find and correct. By monitoring APIs during production ensures that the live API endpoints are up, functioning quickly, and returning expected information to the user.
Also Read: Why Should Enterprises Automate Testing Especially Post COVID-19
Benefits of API Testing
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Finding bugs at an early stage of software development
As mentioned earlier, the tester will not have to wait till the software or application is completed to test it. This means, during API testing, the QA team has access to the application without a UI or the entire user interface. This is a great advantage, especially while building large applications because the final build might take a couple of months, and then testing or making corrections can add up to even more time. With API testing, well-tested and efficient APIs or microservices are linked together to deploy the final app, this makes sure that there are no issues in the application when it is deployed.
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Easy Integration with GUI
API testing is beneficial for the projects which undergo functional Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing. As both the testing strategies are seamless to integrate and can be performed simultaneously. It empowers testers to create new users in the application before conducting GUI on software. Performing API testing across the software or service development provides much better benefits to the way customers will interact with your application. Apart from it, API testing develops stronger cooperation between QA teams and development, hence significantly accelerating software testing, and cost savings for product QA strategy.
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Improved test coverage
Unlike unit tests that check a separate source code component, function, or method, automated API tests are usually broader in coverage. After all, problems often arise at the intersection of modules, where the scope of one level ends and the scope of another level begins. API level tests are specifically designed to check if all system components work as expected. API testing helps to identify potential defects in interfaces, servers, and databases. This, in turn, improves the overall quality of the software and its interaction with users.
Also Read: A Short Introduction to Data-Driven Testing in Robot Framework
Improve Performance of Your Application With ThinkPalm’s API Testing
Today, there are several API testing tools available for software developers and QA teams, but choosing the right set of tools to test your products efficiently can be quite challenging. At ThinkPalm, our testing experts will help you easily evaluate, choose and implement the most suitable set of API testing tools or complete your API testing needs.
We work with clients all over the globe, therefore we have the expertise in working with outsourced test projects as well. By outsourcing your API Testing Services, our testers can help you leverage the best automation testing infrastructure and tools to perform top-quality testing so that you get efficient products. Therefore, you can deliver products with a 70% reduction in testing time and a 100% increase in product quality. At ThinkPalm, we offer a broad spectrum of professional API Testing Services that are designed to help you release effective software applications to the market that can get you success. Want to hire a reliable API testing company for your requirements? Contact us today!
Author Bio
Ricky Philip is a content strategist, who has an unparalleled dedication to building productive and engaging website content that attracts traffic and increase search engine rankings. If not typing furiously on his keyboard, Ricky is constantly learning ways to enhance search traffic acquisitions.
