A brief guide to testing APIs & the tools involved

Because application programming interfaces are becoming crucial elements for software development, developers and programmers must perform API tests. By testing, you can determine whether an API meets the anticipated threshold for things like functionality, reliability, performance, and security. To ensure you satisfactorily complete the tests you need to conduct, you will need to utilize the best testing tools available. Keep reading to find out more about testing APIs and the tools involved.

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Selecting API Testing Tools

Not long ago, API testing was considered a subset of integration testing, in which you test the API in relation to an application’s extended functionality. But treating API as integration testing is out of date. No more are APIs merely internal application decoupling strategies. Now, APIs are final products, so they require bona fide functional testing.

Numerous API testing tools are available, but which are the best ones? Each has different features and uses, so you will need to spend some time comparing different ones to find the right tool for the job. But many APIs come with such tools. For instance, RapidAPI enables you to manage and test your API from the Provider Dashboard, and you can also collaborate with teams for both external and internal APIs. You can test as many APIs as you like, and furthermore, it is free to use.

For complicated test scenarios, you may want to try the API testing tool called SoapUI. Developers can test SOAP, REST, and Web Services hassle-free, with a full source framework that is entirely dedicated to API testing. Despite being able to test complex situations, SoapUI is surprisingly very easy to implement.

If you want to test HTTP-based REST services, consider using REST-Assured. It was designed with testing in mind, and it integrates with any Java-based automation framework. By providing domain-specific language and behavior-driven development, API testing in Java becomes easy. So, you do not necessarily have to be an expert in HTTP to use it. Rest assured, REST-Assured also has loads of built-in functionalities, so you do not have to code from scratch.

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Testing Endpoints

When testing the functionality of an API, you can test it via its endpoints. An API will have one or more endpoints that provide services and resources to external clients. When testing the endpoints of an API, you should test:

· The API response payload.

· The API resources state.

· The HTTP response codes, when successful and unsuccessful.

· The HTTP headers.

Why is API testing so important?

There are many reasons why testing APIs is critical. Like any software, you need to make sure the expected messages received as an API’s response match the API’s actual response, and you need to ensure there are no bugs. You must also ensure the API meets the original functional requirements used to create it so that errors can be prevented from being introduced to the API while it is modified and improved.

API testing is also becoming essential more than ever before because microservices are making up the backbone of most new developments. And as companies shift towards DevOps, continuous deployment, and continuous integration, gaining API test feedback needs to be faster than ever before.

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