In today’s competitive
world, businesses should understand the fact that only the best applications
thrive well and continue to attract a lot of traffic. This prevalent concept
has made software application development and software product development vital
for all businesses across industries.
The Application
Program Interface (API) is a set of processes, protocols, routines
and tools for building these critical software applications. It is rather an
interface that allows software applications to communicate with one another and
is mainly used while programming the graphical user interface (GUI) components.
There is a lot of significance as an API specifies how its software components
should interact with each other.
API Testing
APIs are essential for
creating an effective and connected experience for customers and thus
businesses are beginning to realize their value. Understanding the depth of its
role with respect to applications, hence the importance of API
testing has come into place.
This specific testing
involves testing of the application interfaces directly as part of the
integration testing to determine if the application perfectly meets the
expectations for functionality, performance, reliability and security.
According to a report
on API Testing market outlook from MarketsandMarkets, the global API
testing market size is expected to grow from USD 384.3 Million in 2016
to USD 1,099.1 Million by 2022, at a CAGR of 19.69% from 2017 to 2022. It has
also been predicted that in the API testing market, the BFSI vertical is
expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period (2017-2022).
Undoubtedly, investing
more time and effort in API testing leads to better quality products that
dominate the market with good reliability, security and performance.
What Does API Testing
Revolve Around?
– To ensure the APIs
work as expected
– To specify and
ensure the application can handle the desired load
– To establish the
APIs work seamlessly through the operating systems and devices
– To ensure the data
that passes through the API is in lieu of compliance & security
– To make sure all the
business rules have been correctly implemented at the API level
– To enable a better
user experience
– To ensure easier
expansion of applications
– To make sure the API
provides the required functionality
How is API Testing
Done?
1. Set up the
Environment:
Initially setting up the environment should
be done with the required parameters that need to be configured for the given
API. This includes configuration of server and database as per the API
requirement.
2. Define the Test Plan:
The test plan varies based on product type and
API. But a solid test plan should cover all scenarios in depth, clearly define
the priority of scenarios that need to be tested. It should also include some
of the common testing types like unit, integration, security, performance and
third-party API tests.
3. Make an API Call:
It is important to make an API call to ensure
there are no broken links in the process of testing as it is crucial before
proceeding with the actual testing.
4. Combine Data with
API Tests:
This step helps to make sure the interface
functions as expected with the provided parameters after being configured.
Are these API’s Really
Business Critical; How does API Testing Play a Key Role?
The interface is the
heart of any application and if the product interface is not good enough, then
it shows an adverse effect on its viability. It is a known fact that
applications are getting more complex due to the varying end-user needs and in
order to meet them, the API’s have become vital tools for businesses across
every industry segment. Hence, it necessitates the need for an effective API
testing at first hand.
Moreover, there is a
significant chance that the API’s can be hacked. It is also unfortunate that
whenever resources are exposed to the internet, it is likely to be attacked in
some way or the other. Hence integration testing and API security testing is
critical for all businesses today.
This testing not only
ensures security standards but also confirms that the overall system will
perform well even under varying loads or network conditions.
Joe Colantonio, an eminent testing domain
blogger in his blog on “Why API Testing is Important,” justifies
the importance of API testing, saying that API testing is
important with the agile practices on the go and with the internet of things
(IoT) all around.
He further adds that
agile has increased the frequency with which applications are released which in
turn has created an increased demand for new ways to quickly test
them. GUI tests are typically too slow to get the test coverage and since
API tests do not rely on a UI to be ready, thus they can be created early in
the software development process.
Undoubtedly Robust API
Testing is the Future; But WHY?
– It tests the API’s
for their capabilities to integrate, stand out to expected functionalities,
equally, weigh aptly for performance parameters and meet up the security
standards
– It helps to verify
code, discover the defects at an early stage and evaluate any unwanted code
– This testing exposes
coding issues that either manual or automated tests might miss
– Its superiority is
that it is far less time consuming than functional GUI testing
– This aptly tests the core of your product’s functionality and it is the truth that functionality
typically determines the end user’s expectations
– With API’s,
integration of tools or programs can happen at any point of time to enhance the
experience and functionalities of the software
– API testing is
indispensable and test automation is leveraged currently to make the testing
process faster and error-free
Pure play testing services providers like TestingXperts have a good number of
expert API testers and provide the perfect environment to test your application
interface effectively and efficiently as they have:
How can Testingxperts
help you with Effective API Testing?
– Expertise on a wide
range of API protocols like XML, SOAP, JSON, REST, Gdata, YAML, ATOM, RSS, and
RDF etc.
– Experience with
testing for code level functionality and ensure test accuracy
– Experience to
perform end-to-end application validations at various layers of the application
– Expertise on leading
industry tools for API testing for functional, load, and security testing
– Ample exposure with
the automation of API test cases