The Best 10 API Testing Tools for Software Tester
API testing is a software testing practice that mainly focuses on determining if APIs meet expectations for functionality, reliability, performance, and security.
As APIs are becoming essential to software development, programmers must perform API tests. Unfortunately, this testing cannot be performed on the front end as there is no Graphic User Interface for APIs.
There are eight different types of API testing conducted:
- Validation testing helps verify the aspects of an API’s product, behavior, and efficiency. It plays an essential role in the development process.
- Functional testing – Functional testing tests specific functions of the API.
- UI testing – UI testing helps you test user interface performance for the API and integral parts of API.
- Security Testing – Security testing helps secure your API against all external threats and risks.
- Load Testing is conducted after a specific unit, or the whole codebase is completed. Load testing monitors the software performance at both average and peak situations.
- Runtime and error detection – This testing type allows you to detect execution errors, resource leaks, and software bugs.
- Penetration Testing – Penetration testing help you to detect vulnerabilities and security loopholes in your APIs.
- Fuzz Testing – To test the API performance and detect coding errors and bugs, the API testing tool randomly sends a massive amount of data to the API test subject to make it crash.
Where is API testing Performed?
There are three different layers involved in the software development process. The user interface, business, and database layers are used for modeling and manipulating data. API testing is mainly performed at the middle layer, the business layer, in which business logic processing is carried out, and all transactions between the user interface and database layers happen.
What are the Benefits of API Testing?
API Testing allows access to and test application without any user interface. It will help you test the application’s code-level functionality before running GUI tests.
- Language-Independent – Testing data is exchanged via XML and JSON formats so that any language supports test automation. In addition, both Formats are structured data, making the verification fast and stable.
- GUI Independent – It can be performed in the app before GUI testing. It gives your better feedback and improves team productivity before GUI testing.
- Faster Releases – API testing allows you to speed up your app development compared to UI testing. It means faster software development to release software.
Below, we’ve analyzed 10 API testing tools, outlining their features.