LEARN
API TESTING
RAJKUMAR SM
w w w . S o f t w a r eT e s t i n g M a t e r i a l . c o m
API Testing Tutorial www.SoftwareTestingMaterial.com
Table Of Contents
What is an API? 2
What is API Testing? 4
API Testing Types 6
Common Tests on APIs 7
Advantages of API Testing 8
What exactly needs to be veri ed in API Testing? 9
Tools used for API Testing 10
Difference between API testing and Unit Testing? 11
Challenges in API Testing 12
API Testing Best Practices 13
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What is an API?
API is an acronym and it stands for Application Programming Interface. API is a set of
routines, protocols, and tools for building Software Applications. APIs specify how one
software program should interact with other software programs.
Routine: a program that performs a particular task. Routine is also known as procedure,
function, or subroutine.
Protocols: A format for transmitting data between two systems.
In simple words, API stands for Application Programming Interface. API acts as an
interface between two software applications and allows the two software applications to
communicate with each other. API is a collection of software functions that can be
executed by another software program.
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Let’s see some examples of an API in a more approachable way.
Assume an API as a Waiter at a Restaurant.
At a restaurant, you give an order based on the items available on the menu. A waiter in
the restaurant writes down your order and delivers it to the kitchen who prepares your
meal. Once the meal is ready, the waiter picks up your food from the kitchen and serves it
to you at your table.
In this scenario, the waiter’s role is similar to an API. As a waiter, the API takes a request
from a source, takes that request to the database, fetches the requested data from the
database, and returns a response to the source.
Now, let's see another example.
If you are using a ight service engine say Expedia, where you search for ights on a
speci c date. Once you pass the data such as Source, Destination, Onward Date, and
Return Date and click on search. Expedia sends a request to airlines through an API as per
your search details. The API then takes the airline’s response to your request and delivers
it right back to Expedia.
API gets the request from the user and gives the response without exposing internal logic.
API acts like an Abstraction in the OOPs concept.
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What is API Testing?
API testing is a type of software testing that involves testing APIs directly and also as a
part of integration testing to check whether the API meets expectations in terms of
functionality, reliability, performance, and security of an application.
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In API Testing our main focus will be on a Business logic layer of the software architecture.
API testing can be performed on any software system which contains multiple APIs. API
testing won’t concentrate on the look and feel of the application. API testing is entirely
different from GUI Testing.
Let’s see how is UI testing is not similar to API testing?
UI (User Interface) testing is to test the graphical interface part of the application. Its main
focus is to test the look and feel of an application.
On the other hand, API testing enables communication between two different software
systems. Its main focus is on the business layer of the application.
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API Testing Types
API testing typically involves the following practices:
Unit testing: To test the functionality of individual operation
Functional testing: To test the functionality of broader scenarios by using a block of
unit test results tested together
Load testing: To test the functionality and performance under load
Runtime/Error Detection: To monitor an application to identify problems such as
exceptions and resource leaks
Security testing: To ensure that the implementation of the API is secure from
external threats
testing: It is performed as part of end-to-end integration tests to make sure every
UI
aspect of the user interface functions as expected
Interoperability and WS Compliance testing: Interoperability and WS Compliance
Testing is a type of testing that applies to SOAP APIs. Interoperability between SOAP
APIs is checked by ensuring conformance to the Web Services Interoperability
pro les. WS-* compliance is tested to ensure standards such as WS-Addressing, WS-
Discovery, WS-Federation, WS-Policy, WS-Security, and WS-Trust are properly
implemented and utilized
Penetration testing: To nd vulnerabilities of an application from attackers
Fuzz testing: To test the API by forcibly input into the system in order to attempt a
forced crash
Refer: 100+ Types of Testing
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Common Tests on APIs
Some of the common tests we perform on APIs are as follows.
To verify whether the return value is based on the input condition. The response of
the APIs should be veri ed based on the request.
To verify whether the system is authenticating the outcome when the API is updating
any data structure
To verify whether the API triggers some other event or request another API
To verify the behavior of the API when there is no return value
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Advantages of API Testing
API Testing is time effective when compared to GUI Testing. API test automation
requires less code so it can provide faster and better test coverage.
API Testing helps us to reduce the testing cost. With API Testing we can nd minor
bugs before the GUI Testing. These minor bugs will become bigger during GUI Testing.
So nding those bugs in the API Testing will be cost-effective to the Company.
API Testing is language independent.
API Testing is quite helpful in testing Core Functionality. We can test the APIs without
a user interface. In GUI Testing, we need to wait until the application is available to
test the core functionalities.
API Testing helps us to reduce the risks.
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What exactly needs to be veri ed in API Testing?
Basically, on API Testing, we send a request to the API with the known data and we
analyze the response.
Data accuracy
HTTP status codes
Response time
Error codes in case API return any errors
Authorization checks
Non-functional testing such as performance testing, security testing
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Tools used for API Testing
Some of the tools used for API Testing are as follows:
1. Postman
2. SoapUI
3. Rest-Assured
4. JMeter
5. Karate DSL
6. Assertible
7. Apigee
8. API Fortress
9. Tricentis Tosca
10. Parasoft
Refer to this link to learn more about these API Testing Tools
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Difference between API testing and Unit Testing?
UNIT TESTING:
Unit testing is conducted by the Development Team
Unit testing is a form of White box testing
Unit testing is conducted prior to the process of including the code in the build
Source code is involved in Unit testing
In unit testing, the scope of testing is limited, so only basic functionalities are
considered for testing
API TESTING:
API testing is conducted by QA Team
API testing is a form of Black box testing
API testing is conducted after the build is ready for testing
Source code is not involved in API testing
In API testing, the scope of testing is wide, so all the issues that are functional are
considered for testing
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Challenges in API Testing
Some of the challenges we face while doing API testing are as follows
Selecting proper parameters and its combinations
Categorizing the parameters properly
Proper call sequencing is required as this may lead to inadequate coverage in testing
Verifying and validating the output
Due to the absence of GUI, it is quite dif cult to provide input values
Types of bugs we face when performing API testing:
Issues observed when performing API testing are
Stress, performance, and security issues
Duplicate or missing functionality
Reliability issues
Improper messaging
Incompatible error handling mechanism
Multi-threaded issues
Improper errors
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API Testing Best Practices
Test for the expected results
Add stress to the system by sending a series of API load tests
Group API test cases by test category
Create test cases with all possible inputs combinations for complete test coverage
Prioritize API function calls to make it easy to test
Create tests to handle unforeseen problems
Automate API testing wherever it is possible
Don't miss the following articles on our website related to API Testing.
API Testing Interview Questions
SOAP Interview Questions
Postman Tutorial (API Testing using Postman)
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