Testing Software for Core Functionality
The main advantage of API testing is the access to the application without a user interface. It aims at testing the core functionality of an app. API testing helps to determine software strengths at the early stages of development. Therefore, API tests detect small errors that might become more serious while running GUI. Thus, your product maintains its quality.
Moreover, core access fosters communication and creates a platform for effective cooperation between QA and development departments. Smooth cooperation is a necessity if outsource QA specialists conduct API test for your product.
Bug Detection
API testing does not concentrate on software UI and its simplicity in use. This type of testing is to check how well the APIs do their job in the system. Bugs related to API testing also fall into a specific category, as they are detected on the application data level.
Functionality Bugs. Before checking APIs for performance, QA engineers make sure if the API works at all and if it works correctly. Here testers pay attention to basic functionality. It starts with checking such features as creating and deleting data with the help of API calls. The tests also examine if the APIs handle errors and avoid unexpected crashes.
Reliability Bugs. Here QA specialists make sure that the APIs work consistently. Testers detect bugs that block software from integration into different systems.
Performance Bugs. Checking APIs` performance under stress is essential. API testing identifies issues with hosting infrastructure. In this case, the testers check if the system can handle high traffic load and meet rising demand without crashes.
Language Flexibility
XML or JSON are the most common formats for API data exchange. These transfer modes enable to choose any programming language when having automated API services for your application. QA Madness team conducts API testing based on Java, Python, or JS.
Time Safety
API testing takes less time than functional GUI testing. GUI testing requires the web page elements to be polled. This process makes the testing far more time-consuming. In general, 3,000 API tests can be performed in 50 minutes (in parallel execution), while the same amount of GUI tests is completed in 30 hours. Moreover, automated API testing requires less code and, therefore, provides quick test coverage. Faster testing makes the QA strategy cost-effective.
Easy Integration with GUI
API testing is beneficial for the projects which undergo functional GUI testing. Both testing methods easily integrate. It enables to create new users in the app before conducting GUI on your software.
Conducting API testing across the software or service development brings far-reaching advantages to the way customers will interact with your product. Apart from it, API testing builds stronger cooperation between QA and development, accelerates software testing, and saves costs for product QA strategy.