Performance testing is considered to be one of the most significant and challenging aspects of web application testing. The reliability of a web application relies on how well it can perform on various devices and platforms. The product or application behavior and user’s response can be analyzed through the tactical implementation of performance testing. The team must put in efforts to lay down a well-defined and methodical performance testing strategy that is aligned with the project.

In this article, you will get to know the steps required to perform performance testing for a web application.

Following are the seven steps required to perform performance testing for a web application:

1. The test environment needs to be properly set up: In this step, analyze the specific conditions that an application may confront during the production phase. The production phase should be simulated by a fully functional testing environment as precisely as possible. The testing environments include:

• Software tools
• Hardware and
• Network configurations.

A functional test environment should be established so that the quality of planning and running tests is significantly improved. Both testers and developers should be involved in the creation of the performance testing environment.

2. The performance criteria should be identified: The performance criteria that are evaluated for all web applications generally include resource utilization, throughput and response time. Additional metrics might be captured and measured based on the business requirements.

3. Creating a plan for tests: Developing a testing plan requires the team to research thoroughly. The key scenarios to test are identified for all use cases by the tester. The cause of low performance should be known from a user’s standpoint for knowing what the users are doing and whether they need any help from the team.

Once a range of cases is collected by testers, they should come up with a workable strategy to simulate needed interactions. Metrics are also defined that will be captured during the testing process.

4. The environment should be configured: In this step, a toolkit of performance monitoring and load generation tools is created by the QA team. A bank of IP addresses are created by testers that can be used during sessions. During the project testing process, the web server performance testing toolkit should be modified or expanded to provide an expanded view of the web application’s performance.

5. Initiate test execution: The team should know the process in-depth to carry out the test execution process successfully. Following are the practices that can be followed while executing performance tests:

• Monitoring activity should be carried out by an expert
• Systems, test data and scripts involved should be regularly validated
• All the test results should be reviewed properly
• A test log needs to be maintained.

6. Scrutinize results: Once the testing of the web application’s performance has been done, the test results can be analyzed by the team using reports and graphs generated during scenario execution. Based on the findings (that can be shared), solutions can be offered to any of the issues that have been identified. The app is fine-tuned and after the problems have been fixed, the tests are rerun using the same and different parameters to measure improvement.

7. Repeat: Optimal results can be attained through performance testing when the tests are repeated. Whenever there is a change in the code, other metrics may get affected. For this reason, repeat testing is a core aspect of performance testing. A detailed schedule can be developed to include re-runs so that the system can be re-validated.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing performance testing for your specific project, then do get connected with a well-established software testing services company that will provide professional consultation and support in developing a high-end and in detail testing strategy that can meet your project specific requirements.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.