8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing?
| by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
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Why API Testing?
Keith Vanderpool Jan 1, 2018 · 4 min read
Why Testing?
You know you should be doing it. Everyone talks about doing it. Maybe you’re doing it
in some fashion or to a limited extent. Why? How? Where?
In the beginning
Software development for the web used to be “easy”. Create some html files. Upload
them to a server (usually running Apache and typically transferring the files to the
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
server using FTP. Oh such great security 😱 ). Pat yourself on the back and then you’re
done. Time to see about getting that site listed in yahoo 😉 .
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And then the technologies came and kept coming and will continue
coming…
(not an exhaustive list)
HTML form submissions
cgi gateway
Javascript
CSS
perl
Oracle databases
Access databases
Microsoft SQL databases
Server farms
.COM components
Classic ASP
Server farms
Java sevlets
PHP
.NET
SOAP
XML
Blogger
WordPress
Ruby
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
node.js
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NoSQL databases
Virtualization
Load balanced servers
RESTful API
JSON
The “Cloud”
.NET Core
AWS
Angular
React
Azure
and so much more…
What does it mean to test an application?
Typical SPA (Single Page Application aka a web site) contains
Browser — SPA application runs within it. It could be Angular, React, or something
else
API — Webserver that serves as the endpoint to load data into the SPA and process
user actions initiated by the SPA
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
Backend Stuff — databases, other services, infrastructure. Stuff that makes the
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API function but is largely hidden by the API layer
What does this mean from a testing perspective?
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
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The user wants the application to do whatever it does. It needs the API to function in a
way to allow the user to perform those actions.
The API is the contract. This contract needs to function and be consistent with what
the consumer (aka the browser) expects. The contract means I give you X you give me
y. Specific example would be: I provide you a username and password. You give me a
response whether I am authorized. If I am authorized you give me a token that allows
me to do things with the API now that I’m authorized.
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
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For purposes of API testing the box in red is the only area of concern
If the API doesn’t work as the application (code) in the browser expects; the application
isn’t going to work. The user is sad and complains to your boss if you’re running an
application within the enterprise. Then you need to figure out what’s broken and fix it.
Or if it’s a public site users become frustrated and stop using your application. Then you
go out of business.
So get to the point…
As developers and a development team we need to be able to test and change the API as
the application is initially developed and after it is running in production. Doing this
by hand (manual testing) is not a sustainable approach.No really. Get to the point.
Postman (https://www.getpostman.com/) is a tool that allows you to make http
requests APIs from an interactive interface. And also has a command line tool called
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8/31/2021 Why API Testing?. Why Testing? | by Keith Vanderpool | Medium
newman
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(https://www.getpostman.com/docs/postman/collection_runs/command_line_integr
ation_with_newman) that allows you to run these requests from the commandline. The
ability to run it from a command line means it can be automated.
So to finally get to the point… Automated testing of RESTful APIs from the
commandline. You need this. You may not realize why and how yet.
What’s Next
How to use postman
How to run it from the commandline
How to structure and manage postman collections
How to use it in continuous integration
How to use it in continuous deployment
Web Development Postman Restful Api Continuous Integration Software Testing
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