Automated API Testing

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) serve to facilitate communications between two applications, and most of them abstract the business logic and provide direct access to the database.

API Testing enables fulfilling the following tasks:

  • Check all the endpoints, regardless of their location.
  • Ensure the proper implementation of all the required services.
  • Provide access control for both authorized and unauthenticated users.
  • Manage the test execution process.

API Testing Automation


The testing process can be automated to prevent human errors and streamlines testing; it is possible to create suites for repeatedly running tests by integrating requests into a single automated test series.

The automation of the testing process makes it easy and quick; it allows increasing test coverage and frequency, thus reducing the risk of breakage in the accelerating growth of programs.

An Automated Testing also means saving money and time while implementing the whole process between development and QA, as well as the debugging in production.

API automation testing should be expansible, reusable, and maintainable.

Ways to API Testing Automation


There are several ways to gain the ability to automate API testing.

  • Save test data and implementation history along with API endpoints to rerun tests when necessary.
  • Explicitly indicate demand for possible changes in APIs to provide an opportunity for further on-time adjustment.
  • Apply various sets of data in the same test scenario to increase the range of API testing.
  • Create the test scripts using specific templates or models of data input and outputs to enable reuse during the whole testing process.

Types of Automated Testing


Unit Testing
A unit testing focuses on verifying the logic of the secluded piece of code. Interactions with a database, configuration file, and network do not go under the unit test. If the unit that is considered a function for most programming languages holds any of the interactions, faking the interaction and returning data takes place.

Functional Testing
The functional testing goal is validating the function with all its integrations by using the input to convert it to output and then compare the output with the expected results.

Regression Testing
Regression testing discovers the change in the quality of an application in case a new feature added to the product. Regression test helps to detect if the API endpoint can handle a given amount of requests.

Smoke Testing
The term is similar to that of a hardware testing by smoke. The smoke testing is known as Build Verification Testing and implements several non-exhaustive tests to ensure the work of the most significant functions. The smoke testing results are determining the stability of the deployed build to proceed with further testing. Smoke testing can be performed with the help of automated tools.

Integration Testing
An integration test determines if two or more systems, be that database or API can integrate. If products can work together, the integration test was successful.

Automation tools

API Automation Testing requires appropriate tools and solutions. With the close consideration of the API requirements and careful assessment of the costs of the possible solutions, testing tools will be able to serve the business demands of the rapidly elaborating software.

Among criteria helping to choose the right tool for API Testing automation, are the ability to support

  • API types (RESTful or SOAP services);
  • Import of API endpoints from WSDL, WADL, and other service specification;
  • The authorization methods that application under test requires.
An ideal choice would be the automation tool that supports all the types of testing the business layer, data sources, and UI.
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