So, how can you achieve this?
What you require is a reliable testing tool that conducts performance testing and gives you information about your application’s speed, stability, and scalability under different conditions. Without performance testing, your software could suffer from issues like being incompatible with different operating systems or being slow when many users are using it. And, if you launch your product without proper performance testing, you are likely to gain a poor reputation, and your software may not get you the sales you long for.What is Performance Testing?
In simple terms, it is a testing process that lets you know if your software applications are performing at their best under the expected workload. Performance testing, a vital part of software testing, evaluates the software’s speed and response under a heavy workload.
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Why is System Performance Testing Important?
Performance testing lets you assess the quality and capability of your products before they reach the market. To understand this point better, we will look at an example.
Just imagine the losses a multispecialty hospital with an excellent reputation could suffer if some software essential to run life-saving medical equipment malfunctions during a critical time.
Clearly, any business that is dependent on software to run its processes efficiently needs its software to be dependable and perform well under any condition. So, as a responsible software developer, you can see now why you need an efficient performance testing tool to ensure the product you develop is glitch-free and can work excellently whatever the situation.
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Top 3 Reasons to Invest in Performance Testing
To Ensure Your Application Remains Robust
Performance testing guarantees that your application performs excellently even in critical situations like network issues on the device side or high server load. It verifies your application’s sustainability in the marketplace.Improve Scalability
In these competitive times, you need apps that are scalable and which you can upgrade when needed. With performance testing, you are able to spot vulnerabilities and determine what needs to be done to make it more scalable.Make your App More Dependable
By conducting performance testing, you verify that your app can deliver consistent results even if it undergoes upgradation or changes in its features.
Always consider investing in an efficient performance testing tool that can detect potential bugs and errors that may prove costly to your business in the long run. Moreover, it would be prudent to get a codeless automation testing tool since test automation gives you multiple benefits. And, with such a tool, you get savings in cost, there is no need for your testers to have coding knowledge, and you can run multiple tests simultaneously, besides many more other benefits.
The Right Time to Conduct Performance Testing
Your testing team must figure out at what stage during the development process they will benefit more by conducting performance tests. You have to choose which approach is better for you, the Agile approach or the Waterfall approach. When selecting one of these two approaches, you have to consider the technology, people, and processes that you will be dealing with.
Under this approach, you can start performance testing at the development process’s beginning and continue it along the application’s entire evolution process.
Benefits:
Get early and constant feedback.
Reduce your risk.
Improve continuously as you develop your software. Hence, if you make a mistake, you can identify it early, rectify it, and avoid repeating it.
In this approach, you schedule all your performance testing activities at the end of the development process.
Benefits:
After you choose an appropriate approach, pick a reliable automation testing tool that is apt for your application’s testing requirements.
Lets you focus on a specific feature or functionality to test.
Plan and assign resources for your performance test in a better way since you will only be conducting it for a specific period.
Testers generally try to employ a test environment as close to production as possible, which is more realistic and advantageous.
Issues that Performance Testing Detects
We will now take a peek at some of the common performance problems that a testing tool identifies:Poor Response
Most users expect an application to respond quickly when they provide an input. A delay in response may result in the application getting a poor market rating.Slow Loading Time
This is the time taken by an application to load. Ideally, the time taken to load should not be more than a few seconds.Bottlenecks
These are the hurdles that delay the overall performance of the software. The reasons could be a faulty section of code or a defect in the hardware.Scalability
The scalability is said to be poor if your software does not perform up to expectations when used by the expected number of users.Some Applications That Require Performance Testing
Performance testing identifies issues that need improvement before your application reaches the market. Below are some of the apps that need testing to ensure they are flawless:Social Media Platforms
People expect platforms like Facebook and Instagram to perform excellently all the time. So, these platforms need high-precision test automation tools to test them to ensure they are free from defects.eCommerce Apps
People using eCommerce apps expect an excellent shopping experience, and therefore, these apps need to undergo performance testing to rectify any potential bugs and errors.Market-based Apps
For such applications, performance testing helps to identify the number of people and check the app’s response at times of its highest scalability.Instant-messaging platforms
Since a majority of people around the globe use messengers like Telegram or Whatsapp, performance testing is a must-do to ensure optimum performance and prevent outages.Common Types of Performance Testing
Stress Testing
It assists in identifying the breaking point of an application. Under this process, the application undergoes testing under extreme workloads.Load Testing
This type of testing lets you assess your software’s performance under expected user loads.Endurance Testing
Testers perform this testing to assess if the application can withstand the anticipated load for longer durationsVolume Testing
Through this testing, you know how your software performs under different database volumes.Scalability Testing
With scalability testing, you evaluate the software’s effectiveness when you increase the user load.Spike Testing
It helps you determine the application’s response when facing large spikes in load generation.Unit Test
A unit test ascertains whether a unit of code is performing to its expectations. The individual components or units of software like method, procedure, or module undergo testing.Soak Testing
This type of test lets you identify performance-related issues like memory leaks or corruption before you release your product on a specific platform. It helps determine your app’s performance and stability over a specific period.Capacity Testing
It determines how many users your application is able to handle before its performance or stability deteriorates. This helps you prevent potential issues in the future and understand events that may stretch your app beyond its capacity.Baseline Testing
It is the process by which performance metrics of software is recorded at the time it undergoes performance testing. It helps to maintain the quality of your application consistently.Breakpoint Testing
It helps to determine the point at which your application will break down. By this method, you can identify your software’s maximum load-bearing capability.Performance Testing Metrics
Some of the basic parameters that a performance testing tool monitors are:
- Memory Usage: The amount of physical memory that is available to process on a mobile device.
- Bandwidth: It displays the bit per second a network interface uses.
- Processor Usage: The time spent by a processor for executing non-idle threads.
- Committed Memory: The amount of virtual memory consumed.
- Throughput: Rate at which a network receives requests per second.
- Hits per second: The number of hits on a web server per second during a load test.
- Response Time: It is the time from receipt of a request from a user to the point of receipt of the first character of the response.
- Disk Time: The amount of time taken by the disk to execute a read or write request.
What is a Scenario in Performance Testing?
A test scenario refers to specific functionality that can undergo testing. As a tester, you need to think from the end user’s point of view and determine real-world scenarios of the application you are testing. With scenarios, your testing becomes easier, and you can resolve all complicated problems of the software. They help to determine the real use of your applications and ensure comprehensive test coverage with your automation testing tool.Steps in the Performance Testing Process
Generally, these are the steps a tester takes:-
01 Knowing Your Testing Environment
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02 Set Performance Acceptance Criteria
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03 Planning and Designing
End-to-End Testing on real iOS, Android Devices & Browsers
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04 Preparing the Test Environment
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05 Identify Potential Problems
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06 Conduct the Test
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07 Analyze the Test Results and Retest
First, you need to find an automation tool that is the best fit for your project. So, ensure your test tool suits the technology the application undergoing the test is built on. Additionally, you must know all about your project requirements clearly. Always select a tool that is simple to use and aligns with your project.
Challenges of Performance Testing
Here are some of the common performance testing challenges that testers may encounter:Not Picking the Right Tools
Often, software companies pick the wrong tools for performance testing, and this may lead to a loss of several testing days. Such a tool may not even recognize the application’s controls properly. Therefore, it is vital for your QA team to thoroughly assess the application undergoing the testing and pick the right testing tool.Budget Constraints
If performance testing is to be effective, appropriate time and budget allocation is a must. However, sometimes poor planning often leads to a lack of proper allocation. This may lead to the testing team having to rely on low-skill resources, which can affect the quality of testing.Analyzing Test Results
Other challenges, which testers face are regarding the analysis of performance test results. It is essential to have experienced performance testers who have an in-depth knowledge of the application and the system. Such testers should also understand the scenarios and add more scenarios that can positively impact the software’s performance. In this way, they should frequently refine the tests for enhancing the user experience.Improper Test Strategy and Coverage
Many times performance testing does not generate the results you want because of the lack of a clear testing strategy. Therefore, to get the best results from performance testing, the testing team should take time to understand the software’s architecture and analyze load distribution, usage model, reliability requirements, and other factors.Insufficient Knowledge
In many instances, the key stakeholders do not have proper knowledge of the significance of performance testing. This may lead to several performance issues after the application’s release, such as crashing during heavy load times. Therefore, it becomes vital for all stakeholders, product owners, and testing experts to come together and devise an end-to-end performance testing strategy.Performance Testing Best Practices
If properly planned and executed, performance testing with an automation testing tool can ensure your application meets your expectations of responsiveness and robustness. To ensure optimum results, here are the best practices you can follow:- Ensure Early and Frequent Testing Be proactive and ensure that you run performance testing early in the development cycle rather than running it after receiving complaints from users. It is better to run the testing along the entire development cycle.
- Know Your Product Well Before going ahead with performance testing with an automation testing tool, you first need to understand everything about your software, such as its capabilities, intended use, limitations, and so on. You need to consider all these factors before beginning the testing process.
- Let Performance Testing Be Part of Your Unit Tests A common mistake made by testers is running performance testing in later stages of the development cycle. But, doing the testing at such a later stage will make it more challenging and expensive to make changes to your software. So, the better alternative is to incorporate performance testing into your unit tests.
- Define Performance Benchmarks You need to adopt a practical approach and set realistic scenarios for your application instead of setting unrealistic goals. Ensure that the testbed is inclusive of all kinds of devices and environments where your software should perform efficiently.
- Consider the User’s experience Even though the response of the servers and other results may be satisfactory, you also need to ensure that the user gets an excellent experience. It is essential for the tests to capture every user’s experience since their opinion about your product’s performance matters the most for your business.
Why Automate Performance Testing with TestGrid?
Automating performance testing with TestGrid can do wonders for your software development business. If you have been using manual testing so far, you will accept how the testing process becomes a logistical nightmare when done manually. These are the top reasons why you need TestGrid’s automation testing tool to run performance testing for your software:More Effective than Manual Testing
When you run performance testing with TestGrid’s automation testing tool, the testing becomes more effortless and less time-consuming. It lets you use your precious resources time and money more economically.Better ROI
You may have to make a significant investment initially to automate your testing process. But, the long-term benefit is that it will translate into lesser costs and more returns on the money you spend.Increases the Depth and Scope of your Tests
By automating your tests with TestGrid, you can run numerous complicated test cases during each test run. You can run lengthy tests without the need for your testers to attend them. Thus test automation with TestGrid provides better coverage and improves your software quality.Superior Testing Quality
The manual testing process can be monotonous to the tester, and lapses of concentration often lead to mistakes. With test automation using TestGrid’s tool, you can repeatedly run your tests any number of times with the same precision every time.Which is the Most Reliable Performance Testing Tool?
The most efficient and trustworthy testing tool that software businesses prefer is Testgrid’s scriptless automation testing tool.The reasons are:
Testers do not have to worry about spending their precious time developing codes for the tests.
It’s user-interface is quite simple and intuitive and lets you develop tests quickly.
Since it is cloud-based, you can scale up or down as per your requirements, making it more economical.
Coding knowledge is not a prerequisite for running the tests.
What makes Testgrid’s Performance Testing Tool Special?
This is why you need to choose Testgrid’s performance Testing Tool:
It requires no coding know-how. You only have to plug and play.
Brings down performance validation to as low as 2 hours instead of 2 weeks
Provides wider coverage
Reduces costs for your development team, besides saving valuable time
Improved testing with minimal errors
Conduct any number of tests with no additional expenditure
You can run multiple tests with ease
Greatly enhances the quality of products you deliver to the market
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