Introduction
Load testing, Performance testing, crowdsourced testing are a group of services under the umbrella of crowdsourced testing companies.
With load testing, companies/teams can now identify bottlenecks in their software applications in the right earnest that would otherwise potentially result in huge revenue loss.
What Is Load Testing
Load testing is the process of testing a software/ application’s performance in a simulated environment that allows the real-world load on any software, therefore, allowing the application/website owners to understand its performance in a live environment. Load testing evaluates how a piece of software would behave during normal and irregular/high load and it is typically applied on a system/product that is as near as possible to being finished. By utilising specialised testing software load testing enables the team to measure the level of resource utilization, response times and identify application breaking points simultaneously. Load testing for websites can aid in identifying a bunch of things that would otherwise be overlooked such as page load issues and system lag that could happen when numerous users bombard a website with abrupt traffic.
Due to the massive exchange of data that takes place to ensure a better user experience applications are information-intensive. Load testing comes in handy to narrow down issues that could hinder the seamless performance of any application by having application testing services like application security testing and app testing as a part overall performance check.
How Is Load Testing Performed
Guidelines on how to do load testing :
- Know what you want to test
Ask yourself what are the critical functionalities that you want to test based on the end-user experience and gather your requirements accordingly.
- Figure out how your users interact with an application
This step of Load testing presents you with an opportunity to employ APM tools and use relevant data from them.
- Integrate with tools that are already in use
Consider load testing to be an important part of your continuous delivery pipeline and incorporate it with the tools in use. Also, choose tools that can cater to your needs at their best.
Few Of The Best Practices For Load Testing With a Crowd
- Have a practical approach
Performance optimization comes with a deep understanding of your user base and the application itself. Contemplate how a user would think and what they prefer and come up with a set of tests that would reflect reality. Based on the kind of application under test consider the critical aspects of the application for your user base like whether it would be compatible with the other devices. The more realistic the load tests are the more is the scope for you to comprehend the behaviour of your application. Try to keep randomness and variability in mind while appraising the steps to take in a test since real users are unpredictable. To feel more confident with the release of your application, mix up the varying browsers and device types.
- Perform Frequency Tests
Your choice of tests could be DevOps, Agile or anything however the tests should be frequent.
Frequent tests performance throughout the software development is extremely rewarding since it helps in finding and fixing issues earlier.
- Avoid False Positives
Ideally, load tests can’t start from zero since the system you’re looking to update is likely to have some kind of load already. So to avoid any false positives try running tests after your systems are under load.
- Reusing Data
To attain realistic benchmarks and scenarios make use of the data that is in existing usage.
- Analysis of Data
Upon running load tests, identify any underlying problems and take the steps accordingly to improve the performance of the concerned component. This essentially translates into the correlation of performance issues with code hence isolating the principal cause of the problem.
- Make Use Of The Free Tools
Although open-source tools for load testing aren’t ideal, they’re better than having no tools at all for load testing. These load testing free tools aid in understanding how to do load testing and performing regular load testing to avoid slowdown.
- Advantages Of Localised Testing Tools To Bear In Mind
Some of the keys advantages of localised testing tools include reduction in testing time, early detection of defects for quality software etc.,
Benefits Of Load Testing With Crowd
- There is a stark contrast between Tool Vs Real-world testing with people because virtual users originate on the servers that assure you with making informed decisions while load testing on a website or an application
- Load testing for website/ Load testing on websites simulates users to assess your website performance.
Beta testing Vs Load Testing
Crowdsource testing companies offer performance testing and load testing as a part of their services. Just like beta testing companies that offer beta testing for user acceptance for a nearly finished product, load testing encompasses testing the performance of a product under irregular load before its release.
Beta testing companies that provide their services around the clock have application testing services like application security testing and app testing in place that not only help to gauge the performance of software but secure every layer of the modern attack surface.
How Can Load Testing And Performance Testing Enhance Your Product’s Performance
Performance testing delves deep into understanding how a system works.
By initiating load testing and performance testing early on throughout the development stages the unnecessary delays and production costs can be significantly lessened. It exposes the vulnerabilities within the app/website and identifies the areas that need to be emphasised to increase the stability and scalability of the product.
Test results act as a key indicator of the quality and performance of a product that would invariably result in garnering acceptance from demanding customers.
Conclusion
To conclude, load testing is a great way to observe the actual performance of a software/ application under load from end-users in a highly competitive environment. Having the right tools in place companies and teams can access real browser data to realise the actual performance of a system/software/application/website.
