A number of successful digital companies rely on application programming interfaces, such as Amazon’s cloud venture, Google ads, and Facebook likes. Mobile APIs allow companies to connect to the web while enabling platform business models.
The API Economy (per Forbes) may have made you want to jump on, but the typical enterprise needs to take the first step to implement APIs and build a robust system to test them – to eventually bring about the productivity, agility, and cost optimization they’re aiming for.
The next logical step would be to make APIs available to customers and partners with appropriate governance and security controls. As a result, APIs may be geared towards direct monetization, as with Salesforce.com, which generates 50% of its revenue through APIs, Expedia.com, which generates 90%, and eBay, 60% (Harvard Business Review). A well-designed API investment strategy pays for itself in the long run.
What Exactly is an API, and the Testing for it
Simply put, APIs – Application interfaces are a set of protocols that bring together an interface to help different software applications to communicate with each other.
Further, the process of API Testing helps create and ensure a connected and seamless experience for applications – to deliver the final output and experience to the customer.
API testing essentially involves the testing of the interfaces to figure out if the application meets the expectations of performance, core functionality, stability and security.
Why API Testing is Inevitable
Testing APIs offers testers the benefit of accessing the application without interacting with the UI. It allows testers to find bugs early in the development life cycle and test the application more quickly.
Performing API testing ensures applications are not vulnerable to any code breakage, and it helps businesses ensure their APIs are free from any vulnerability. This testing method also saves businesses time and money in the long run since it requires less time than GUI testing.
Testing an API involves JSON or XML exchanges and HTTP responses and requests. It’s possible to test API using any language and automate API testing in any language using either of these transfer modes, as both are completely language-independent.
Various security checks, such as security testing, penetration testing, fuzz testing, and compliance testing, are all part of API testing and help improve the application’s security.
Some Blatant Advantages of API Testing for High Performance
- Mobile and cloud computing continue to grow rapidly. Increasingly powerful, utilitarian, and universal technologies which were once considered a technology-only tool are now being utilized in a wide variety of business situations. Hence, API testing is a must to ensure there are no leakages.
- Modern APIs often pose cyber threats because they comprise an expanding range of public APIs. API Testing is therefore seen as highly critical since API attacks are typically very large; such attacks can cripple business applications and cause user downtime.
- A data leak could damage a company’s reputation, invite lawsuits, and incur large regulatory penalties in the worst-case scenario. Banking companies, financial services companies, and online retailers are now working with software testing companies to test their APIs.
- The creation of new applications can be made much faster with APIs that are tested and validated. The benefits are enormous from a business perspective because enterprises can respond more quickly to market changes with a reduced development time. API testing and quality assurance outsourcing services are becoming increasingly popular among modern enterprises.
- Discrete Defects API Testing helps developers ensure that code they write is up to par. Testers can detect defects in code quickly when they are able to coordinate a batch of such testers. This helps reduce the cost of software development and remove unnecessary code from a system. As well, coders and testers testify that rigorous web service tests and API tests expose issues in coding that bypassed automated testing.
The API Testing Process
While there can be several deep variants and custom processes involved in API testing, and they may vary across organizations, software’s anatomy as well as the business needs, there is a standard process that flows around.
- Initial Setup of Environment
- Test Plan Preparation
- Confirm the API Call
- The Combination of API Testing and Data
- Re-Test
Summing Up
The underlying architecture of apps today has become more complex due to the evolution of technology. To guarantee seamless app functionality and an excellent user experience, APIs must be tested to validate the underlying business layers. Therefore, companies should test APIs extensively to ensure their apps are seamless and functional.
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Written by Infiwave Solutions