The 6 Steps to API Testing
With today’s interconnected applications, servers, websites, and programs, covering potential software failure is essential to maintaining smooth business operations. Application programming interface (API) testing during creation is crucial as it can help detect problems with your application programs that you may not reveal or fix easily after development. Ideally, APIs testing ensures that the data accessed is correctly processed by the API to enhance compliance, streamlined communication, and better security. Usually, there are critical steps you must follow in order to achieve a successful API process.
- Create an API Testing Environment
The first step in achieving a successful API testing is to set up the right testing environment. Make sure you properly configure your database and server to create the needed environment. You can also define the test data according to input and output parameters. Alternatively, you can use an already configured server from an API service. Using a reliable, top-quality API testing company like XBOSoft can provide you better testing. Additionally, you will get comprehensive solutions to meet your needs. Furthermore, they will help integrate software quality into your agile process.
- Choose API Testing Tools
Choosing the right API testing tools can help support API architecture. However, with the many testing tools in the market, selecting the best can be challenging. Therefore, ensure you find a tool that can integrate with other automated frameworks, easy to learn and use, and intuitive. Remember that the tool you select should manage process execution and handle reports. Some of the best tools include Postman for exploratory testing and REST-assured for HTTP-REST and SOAP services. You can also use the paid options for more complex tasks.
- Pick API Protocols
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and REST (Representational State Transfer) are the most popular API testing automation and API testing options. SOAP is a protocol that transfers data using the XML format. Its primary responsibility is to define the method of communication and structure of messages. Sometimes it can also use WSDL in a machine-readable register to publish its interface. On the other hand, REST helps set architectural principles. This service requires specific characteristics such as the simple interfaces identified easily during the manipulation and request of applications using the interface.
- Measure API Performance
Measuring API performance is essential to help you determine if the testing process is going as intended. Typically, API monitoring helps track multiple variables and parameters, including technical issues and customers’ performance. Additionally, it can help detect and solve problems that might affect customer experiences, functionality, and metrics that do not function the way they should. Several tools, such as CA App Synthetic Monitor and MJMeter, can help convert API principles into performance features.
- Establish API Parameters
To attain successful API tests and API testing automation results, the team responsible for testing must have a clear picture of the specific business needs as well as the intended inputs and expected output. Notably, testing won’t offer any benefits if the API parameters don’t match the intended results. The API parameters include header parameters, query string parameters; request body parameters; and path parameters. It is paramount to note that API my not execute the parameter properly if it’s the wrong format or metric.
That is why it is essential to establish essential parameters before conducting any large scale API test. If you’re using a testing company, ensure they develop manual test programs based on the current product requirements.
- Leverage Test Automation
While manual testing can be effective, it’s limited to specific usage issues or concerns. Considering today’s extensive reach of apps across desktops, IoT offerings, and mobile devices, it is vital to leverage test automation, security testing, web API testing, and performance testing to determine functional defects, potential security risks, and latency. Furthermore, leveraging automation capabilities is beneficial as the test data and process history can be saved together with API endpoints, making access to the test data easier.
Similarly, test automation ensures that data input and output use a specific model or template which enables your design test scripts once. The good part is that these scripts can be reused for the entire testing process. The tests are also stable and manipulated with care. The testing process reflects the company’s system guidelines, and any API adjustments demand explicit requirements.