Performance testing is a software testing type that ensures software applications perform well under the expected workload. It helps to determine the performance of the system for speed, scalability, and stability under various load conditions. The system is tested under different load conditions and testers check the system response time under varying workloads. Software performance testing involves testing applications to ensure it is working as expected. It is performed not only to find defects in a system but also to eliminate the bottlenecks from the software application.
So performance testing services include checking an application’s following aspects:
Speed – Testers check if the app responds quickly
Scalability – Testers determine maximum user load the apps can handle
Stability – App is tested for stability under various loads
Since performance testing revolves around checking an app’s capabilities, there are different types. Let’s have a look at them:
Load Testing:
It is a type of testing carried out to evaluate how the system behaves when the load is increased.
Stress Testing:
It is conducted to evaluate the behavior of a system at the defined limits or by increasing the workload
Spike Testing:
It is a performance testing that is conducted to evaluate if the system’s behavior is suddenly increased.
Endurance Testing:
Endurance testing is all about testing a system’s behavior when a certain workload is given continuously.
Best Practices for Performance Testing
The performance of an app should be tested at various levels of the software development process. There are certain basic things that you can consider to keep your app’s performance up to the mark:
Keep innovating
It is really important to keep innovating new ideas into different testing methodologies so that the best can be earned from the digital transformation efforts. This works best when it comes to devising performance testing strategy as well. Apps are expected to deliver a different experience, but their performance is one thing that can define its success or failure in the market. Thus, these efforts should also be innovated for the best results.
Clearly defining strategy
All the factors that can affect user experience should be lined up and clearly defined in the testing strategy. Most of the time performance testing parameters are different for each type of application. So it is for the testers to define how they will be taking their strategy.
Setting achievable targets
When planning performance testing activities, it is important testers keep it real and do not burden the app with high traffic zones. The realistic goals cannot be achieved in fact it will affect the test environment adversely.
Introduce Continuous testing
Testers use Agile and DevOps methodologies to make testing cycles shorter. Performance testing is never done in isolation, as in the digital testing environment issues in the app need to be fixed continuously. Thus it will improve the testing efforts and get the desired results too.
Conclusion
It is important to conduct performance testing in the real-time. Whether the app performs according to the expectations or not, an effective strategy should be devised for meeting customer expectations.