Web Services Testing Automation

Web services are those services wherein two applications or software or machines communicate with each other and exchange information, regardless of the underlying structure of the two things that are communicating. For example, if you want your site to display stock prices, you don’t have to go to the stock market and collect the prices to display them. There will be services that give you this information for a fee, and this is a web service.

Types of Web Services Implementation

Web services are mainly implemented in two basic ways –

1. SOAP –  SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol. This is a standard protocol that has been defined by the W3C Standard. It is used to send and receive web service requests and respond to them as well. This protocol uses XML formats to send and receive the web service requests. This means that the data is independent of the platform that is used to send or receive messages. It uses a simple http transport protocol, it isn’t blocked by firewall, and the messages are exchanged within the SOAP envelops of the two applications.
2. REST –  REST stands for Representational State Transfer. The structure of this runs over HTTP and emphasizes interactions between clients and services. These in turn are amplified by having only a limited number of operations. REST uses simple URL instead of SOAP’s XML, and unlike SOAP, REST applications use HTTP build in headers to relay metadata.

Thus, web services implemented in either way provides a continuous connection between two software applications, either over a private intranet or over the Internet. You need to test your web services in order to check the functionality of the service, load aspects of the service, and also to check whether or not it can handle not only one single client, but also is able to manage well when scaled up.

Web services testing will make sure that you don’t detect errors too late, which would ensure that you don’t have to make expensive and complicated repairs. When you test your web services, you make sure that not only do you stay one step ahead of possible errors, but also ensure that your system qualities are approved of at an earlier stage of development.

Automated testing is particularly helpful when you take into account the resource and time-saving qualities of test automation, which is carried over here as well. In fact, test automation is absolutely crucial to the web services testing process and provides a reliable and efficient base from which to assess function, performance, and scalability of web services.

What Is Included In The Testing Process?

Generally, web services testing include generating the coding framework, customized to the web service being used. The tester also has to define all test inputs, including variables and data. Next, the web service is invoked using either the client or the skeleton code. Once this is done, the skeleton code for the response is put in place, and the response itself is verified. Finally, the tester verifies whether or not the response that is received is at all similar to the expected response.

Why Should One Invest In Web Services Automation?

Nowadays, tools like CloudQA have made web services testing much easier than before. An integral part of the development process, there are several benefits to automating your web services testing.

The frameworks are completely customizable because they are developed in accordance to the needs of the client. The test suites themselves are entirely flexible, and the test cases can be configured to specifications. If you are using SOAP, then the headers and assertions can be set instantly. Whichever way you are implementing, your test script can be created with the least amount of coding, as tools like CloudQA streamline the process for you.

Additionally, all XML requests that have inputs are easily and quickly parsed, and there is little to no need for scripting by the final user. Testing automation also improves both the performance of your web services and their reliability. It makes SOAP and REST API-based web services much easier to test, besides supporting test case execution in the cloud. And finally, you also get a fully detailed report of the tests and a detailed test log, both for reference and for later analysis, besides ensuring complete coverage of all your functional tests.

With these many benefits, it is no wonder that the popularity of tools like CloudQA is on the rise!

If you want to learn more about being more productive with Test Automation, contact us at CloudQA (info@cloudqa.io)