Performance Testing
Performance tests measure how an application performs under given loads. They are not functional tests. Instead, they compare the performance of an application to benchmarks and identify problems. The results are useful for diagnosing bottlenecks. For ensuring high-quality user experiences and meeting performance requirements, performance tests are crucial.
Let's say you have an eCommerce site and need to make sure it handles Black Friday traffic smoothly. To simulate high traffic levels, you could use spike testing. This will show you if and where your application experiences a slowdown.
There are two types:
Protocol-based Tests simulate traffic using HTTP protocols and measure response time. A test could send an HTTP request to obtain a payload and then measure the response time of the server.
Browser-based testing generates real web browsers that respond to requests as a user would. It evaluates the time it takes for the browser to render the response fully and how long it takes for it to do so.
The Easy-to-Use Interface on LoadNinja –
Performance testing tools require the creation of protocol-based test scripts by an experienced engineer. LoadNinja is a browser-based, record-and–replay test recorder that simplifies the entire process. It can scale tests across thousands of browser instances to ensure the most accurate results.
LoadNinja is easy to use and provides useful tools for diagnosing bottlenecks. A machine-learning-powered assistant can identify possible issues immediately. Developers can then dive into virtual browser sessions to navigate the DOM and pinpoint bottlenecks in a fraction of the time.
Different types of performance tests
There are many. They all simulate traffic but each has a different goal and sends traffic at different speeds. While some tests can be used to evaluate a baseline performance, others can be used to test edge cases on an as-needed basis.
Four types of performance tests can be used to evaluate applications.
Load Testing: Determine performance when a workload rises to production levels. This is done to ensure that updates to applications meet minimum performance standards.
Stress Testing: Use to test performance beyond production levels. This will allow you to determine when and why it fails. This is done to determine the application's breaking points and fix any bottlenecks.
Spike Testing: This is a way to measure performance when a workload significantly and suddenly increases above the normal production levels. This is to test how an application would perform if traffic suddenly spiked in production.
Endurance Testing: These tests measure performance over a prolonged period at a standard workload. This is an extension of load tests that can be used to determine if a long-running task is causing problems over time.
A few tests are also available to evaluate infrastructure.
Scalability Testing: These tests are similar to load tests but they focus on the application's CPU usage, memory, and other infrastructure. Usually, the goal is to find out how expensive it would be for infrastructure to grow.
Volume Testing: These tests are similar to stress tests but they concentrate on large data volumes hitting databases and data processing tasks. This is done to find out if database access becomes a bottleneck.
Which one is right for you?
The objective will determine the most efficient type of performance test. The same scenario applies to e-commerce applications. An e-commerce application should use a spike testing method to evaluate application performance before Black Friday, rather than a load or endurance test.
Types of Performance Tests –
These are the most popular uses for each type of performance test:
Load Testing: This is a great way to ensure consistent performance under a load. These tests should be run on a regular schedule with every major deployment. They are usually part of continuous integration and deployment processes.
Stress Test - This test is useful for understanding application limits and should be performed periodically to identify potential weaknesses. These tests are usually run when there is a significant code change that could affect application performance.
Spike test: This is ideal for testing before a major holiday, event, or campaign to make sure that the application can handle an unexpected influx of traffic.
Endurance test: This is a great way to check the stability of a new release. These tests can be useful if new processing tasks could affect performance over time. They are usually run ad-hoc.
Infrastructure Test - Ideal for testing infrastructure costs and database reliability every now and again.
Many load testing tools can support various performance test types, as well as CI/CD or ad-hoc capabilities. LoadNinja, for example, makes it simple to run all these performance tests and integrates with Jenkins CI so it's easy to run continuous load tests to ensure that performance is maintained before every major deployment.
Conclusion:
Modern software development requires performance tests. You can make sure that your applications meet minimum standards, and provide the best user experience by choosing the right performance test. These tests should be part of a larger testing strategy in order to ensure that every release is high quality.
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