Significance of Performance Testing using SmartQE
Performance is an important non-functional types of testing and involves the process by which software or an application is tested to know its current system performance. Performance Testing is a software testing process used for testing the speed, response time, stability, reliability, scalability and resource usage of a software application under particular workload. The main purpose of performance testing is to identify and eliminate the performance bottlenecks in the software application.
Performance testing also ensures that the application performs as expected irrespective of the network fluctuations, bandwidth availability, or the load of traffic. Basically, this testing process determines the speed with which the system works and some of the issues identified with this type of testing are run time bloat, optimization issues related to speed, latency, throughput, poor response times, load balancing problems, and other bandwidth issues if any.
Types of Performance Testing
- Load testing - checks the application's ability to perform under anticipated user loads. The objective is to identify performance bottlenecks before the software application goes live.
- Stress testing - involves testing an application under extreme workloads to see how it handles high traffic or data processing. The objective is to identify the breaking point of an application.
- Endurance testing - is done to make sure the software can handle the expected load over a long period of time.
- Spike testing - tests the software's reaction to sudden large spikes in the load generated by users.
- Volume testing - Under Volume Testing large amount of data is populated in a database and the overall software system's behavior is monitored. The objective is to check software application's performance under varying database volumes.
- Scalability testing - The objective of scalability testing is to determine the software application's effectiveness in "scaling up" to support an increase in user load. It helps plan capacity addition to your software system.
Performance Testing Process:
The methodology adopted for performance testing can vary widely but the objective for performance tests remain the same. It can help demonstrate that your software system meets certain pre-defined performance criteria. OR it can help to compare the performance of two software systems. It can also help identify parts of your software system which degrade its performance.
Apache JMeter: It is an important open source tool used to test the performance of both static and dynamic applications. It is a Java-based application used for load and performance testing which is used to test Web applications, SOAP & REST web services, FTP, databases and more. Interestingly, JMeter is also widely used performance testing tool, which is effectively used to load test web and mobile applications and measure their performance.
Originally it was designed for testing web applications, but later on it has been expanded to test other test functions. It is also used for simulating a heavy load on a server or a group of servers and essentially checks application performance under varied load conditions.
Benefits of Performance Testing:
1.Validate the fundamental features of the software
Having a solid software foundation is a key principle of generating software success. Measuring the performance of basic software functions allows business leaders to make key decisions around the setup of the software. Apple and Samsung are two great examples of nailing the fundamentals of their software. With a strong software foundation, they have been able to plan their business strategy and make key decisions about how their devices will operate. With the knowledge that they have strong fundamental software that has been validated under stringent testing, they are able to pool their resources into research and development to continually improve their product offerings and software performance.
2. Measure the speed, accuracy and stability of the software
Measuring performance speed, accuracy, and stability is a vital aspect of software performance testing. It allows you to monitor the crucial components of your software under duress and can give you vital information on how the software will be able to handle scalability.
Developers can then make informed decisions on what changes need to be made and measure performance against internal standards.
3. Performance testing allows you to keep your users happy
Your first impression to prospective customers is absolutely crucial. Research has shown that nearly half of users expect web and mobile-based applications to load within 2 seconds. This is a small time frame to make a good impression before users will switch off. That time is likely to decrease further as connection speed and network capacity increase. Measuring application performance allows you to observe how your customers are responding to your software. The advantage is that you can pinpoint critical issues before your customers.
4.Identify discrepancies and resolve issues
Measuring performance provides a buffer for developers before release. Any issues are likely to be magnified once they are released. Performance testing allows any issues to be ironed out. It is important that performance testing is monitored across business sectors. Business leaders must have open communication channels with IT to ensure that the performance of the software can match the business strategy. Effective staging testing means when software is released, more time can be spent improving the technology rather than fire-fighting pre-existing issues that can be avoided.
5.Improve optimization and load capability
Another benefit of performance testing is the ability to improve optimization and load capacity. Measuring performance can help your organization deal with volume so your software can cope when you hit high levels of users. Whether your organization can manage scalability is one of the most important unknowns that must be answered as early as possible. Prior testing allows testers to optimize performance and tailor capacity to handle the demand.
SmartQE, a containerized Cloud-based SaaS framework along with Opensource performance testing tool (JMeter) help in measuring the user’s experience and “backend request and response” during impacted network and server load conditions.
SmartQE, a performance testing and engineering opensource framework addresses the performance testing, tuning, post-production monitoring, design & architecture evaluation of Web and API technology stack, using leading opensource performance testing and monitoring tools. SmartQE helps assess your system’s capacity for growth and compares application performance on different load levels, expedite the performance testing activities with the integration of Performance Test accelerators & execute the tests on different platforms and Cloud
SmartQE deeply analyzes the performance with load testing and reports to you the loose ends. It can monitor the infrastructure of your server and keep you updated. It checks for security threats your product is exposed to.
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