How to Overcome Challenges in API Testing

Unlike manual testing issues that occur in the user interface, QA teams must resolve API issues within the API and business logic layers. While this approach to API testing can often prevent UI issues from occurring before manual testing, executing API test cases without interacting with your product dashboard presents its own set of obstacles. Fortunately, you can reduce the number of problems you face when testing APIs by implementing the following best practices:

Take The Time To Familiarize Yourself With The APIs

Challenge: While most API Tester apps are familiar with the challenges of manual testing, they may not be as familiar with the API testing approach. To your surprise, many colleagues on an apps QA team may not be familiar with the API or comfortable running API test cases. A solid API testing strategy cannot flourish if your team consistently lacks API testing skills. However, our app ensures that each member of the team is well familiar with the right strategies of API testing so that the app can provide the accuracy it promises.

Solution: Provide comprehensive training that fully explains your API as well as the business logic layer of your product. Regularly review with your team the rules and guidelines that govern the use of your APIs, from copyright policies and rate limits to storage policies and display policies. If possible, hire QA engineers on your team with extensive knowledge and experience in API testing and troubleshooting API testing issues.

Make Sure The Framework Is Suitable For The API

Challenge: Any upgrade, either to your product or within the API, can change the way your framework supports the API. Additionally, validating parameters within your API can be a challenging task, especially when your APIs require specific constraints and validation criteria which is something our API testing app complies by.

Solution: Continuous API testing during the development cycle can also catch defects early, allowing developers to fix problems sooner. Regularly reviewing your framework ensures that your framework is suitable for API testing, especially by asking yourself these questions during your review.

Does your framework allow integration with GUI tests?

Will the framework support GUI tests?

Can the framework use build management tools and API libraries?

Prioritize Scenarios

Challenge: While API testing tools can increase test coverage, it is simply not possible to test every scenario. Even your most experienced QA engineers cannot predict every possible interaction your users will have with the API in your application. Because your QA team has to cover a number of software tests along with API testing as part of your development cycle, there probably won’t be enough time to cover all scenarios.

Solution: Prioritization is key to overcome these challenges we face in API testing. The scenarios of how your users perceive your app should be the scenarios your team prioritizes in your testing process. To do this effectively, review how your customers use your app and review your app data to identify the exact scenarios of actual product usage.