What is API Testing?
API testing is a type of software testing that focuses on the application programming interfaces (APIs) to ensure they meet functionality, reliability, performance, and security standards. In the realm of functional testing, API testing specifically verifies that the API behaves as expected when receiving requests and responding with the appropriate data.
Objectives of API Testing:
- To validate the API's functionality, ensuring that all endpoints work as intended.
- To check API performance and response time to ensure it meets required performance criteria.
- To assess security by uncovering vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
- To guarantee accuracy of responses, ensuring that the format and structure of the data returned is correct.
Types of API Testing:
- Functional Testing: Verifying API behavior against the functional requirements.
- Load Testing: Evaluating how the API performs under high levels of traffic.
- Security Testing: Checking for flaws in API security.
- Negative Testing: Ensuring the API handles incorrect input gracefully.
Tools Used in API Testing:
Common tools for API testing include Postman, SoapUI, and JMeter, among others. These tools help automate tests to streamline the testing process.