What is API Testing?
We are using APIs to build applications. An app is usually divided into three layers: presentation, service, and data layer. The service layer or the API acts as a bridge between the other two layers to communicate. It is therefore imperative to test this layer to make sure everything is working correctly.
API Testing
Just like you test your UI to make sure a button is working, you also test your APIs. This testing is done to ensure that each endpoint is working as it should. This not only helps with improving the performance of the API but also makes it more secure.
There are a few ways to test an API. Here are some:
- Using a GUI tool like RapidAPI Client to test different endpoints.
- Using Curl for testing.
- Writing tests yourself.
Why You Should Test Your APIs
Testing your APIs timely helps to ensure your app is up all the time. There are a few reasons that make this testing extremely important.
You can detect a lot of security or performance issues. You can also check if the response data is structured correctly or not. API testing can also reveal unused flags, irregular errors, incorrect handling of argument values, etc.
At this stage, you can also identify whether there is any difficulty in connecting with the API or getting a valid response through it.
Benefits of API Testing
There are several benefits associated with API testing. Here is a list of some of them:
- API testing is faster than UI testing since they involve running only commands. So this means you will find more bugs in less time.
- When API tests fail, you know precisely where the issue lies that crashed the system.
- API tests are language-independent since data is exchanged via XML or JSON. So you can write them in any of your preferred languages.
- API testing also helps you to release faster.