Load testing is an integral part of software development, allowing you to identify weak points of the system and ensure its stability under high loads. There are many tools on the market designed for this purpose, including both popular solutions and JMeter, LoadRunner, and BlazeMeter alternatives. In this article, you will learn about the types of performance testing and the best tools for this.
What Does Load Testing Mean?
Load testing is a test of the stability of a productive system to an increase in a real or simulated peak of resource requests. Testers do not look for bugs but help to understand what this software is capable of. The study is conducted to assess the functioning of the system in typical and extreme conditions.
Load testing allows you to understand whether the product meets the non-functional requirements, whether it can handle the amount of work planned by the developers, and if it can, how effectively and easily.
The essence of load testing is in the analysis of certain processes: how the load increases, and how quickly requests are processed within the expected indicators. The procedure makes it possible to ensure the smooth functioning of the software before the release, and preliminary use by real people.
For systems aimed at small / medium businesses, the absence of such a procedure may not be critical. The same cannot be said about companies that periodically have a large influx of visitors, conduct mass campaigns, and process a large array of information. The instability of their resources can result in millions of dollars in losses and a damaged reputation.
How Is Load Testing Different From Stress Testing?
Load testing identifies the upper limit of functionality, while the goal of stress testing is to identify bottlenecks in the system, as well as an attempt to break it and see what will happen to it if some of its components fail. Before starting stress testing, the nature of the loads is often unknown to the customer.
Load testing helps to assess the performance of a system experiencing an increase in the number of visitors and requests. The main point is to find weak points and track how the system will cope with different types of operations. However, these are not all the advantages. Among others:
Ensure the stability of the site or application.
Load testing helps to identify problems that will occur when the operating conditions of the resource become more stringent. For example, a slowdown in the database, a drop in channel throughput. All these points are taken into account to maintain the stability and reliability of the system.
Predict the behavior of the system under high load.
Load testing helps to understand what is the maximum number of requests that can be processed simultaneously. This indicator is important for determining the volume of resources and establishing the stable functioning of the product.
Identify bottlenecks in the architecture.
Load testing helps to identify vulnerabilities in the overall architecture that can cause failures when the load increases. The reasons may be low speed when interacting with databases, and scalability issues.
Increase user and customer trust.
Load testing helps to ensure the smooth operation of the product. This increases user loyalty to it. They are satisfied if they see fast loading, and stability in functioning during peak hours. These aspects have a positive effect on people's experience.
Load Testing Process
Since load testing is a labor-intensive job, it is necessary not only to follow certain stages of its implementation but also to carry out preliminary preparation:
Preparation for testing.
First, specialists develop a corresponding methodology. This is a document that includes possible scenarios and prospects. That is, it is a way to predict how events may develop. To do this, the following actions are performed:
A full collection of data on the project is carried out, and definitions of basic terms are given in order to eliminate discrepancies in the description of the final results.
Goals are determined in order to correctly select the appropriate test option.
System modeling conditions that differ from the typical operating mode of the program are established. For this, stubs and various emulators are used.
Possible errors and the reasons why they may occur are determined.
The parameters of the test stand, the program being tested itself, and the tools for conducting the test are determined.
The characteristics of the application being tested are indicated.
A description of the analysis stages is given using modeling of new conditions for the resource. A list of load testing results and options for further research is compiled.
The final stretch is to draw up requirements for the document, and recommendations for correcting the application's weaknesses.
The given order of actions is not absolute. Everything depends on the specifics of the product itself and the goals set.
Creating load scenarios.
Running a load test.
Analyzing results.
Best Load Testing Tools
There are quite a few load testing tools on the market. Let's look at the most popular options.
BlazeMeter. A cloud-based testing platform that extends JMeter by offering scalable load testing for cloud and hybrid systems.
Apache JMeter. A popular open-source tool used for performance testing and load measurement of web applications.
LoadRunner. An enterprise-grade tool from Micro Focus that supports a wide range of protocols and provides detailed analytics reports.
Gatling. This tool includes a user-friendly domain-specific language (DSL) for creating test scripts that make it easy to configure and run load tests.
Locust. A Python tool that enables distributed load testing with real-time scalability, making it ideal for testing applications with variable loads.
Wrapping it Up
The choice of a suitable testing tool depends on many factors: the scale of the project, load requirements, and budget. In addition to Apache JMeter, BlazeMeter, Kinsta APM, and LoadNinja, there are other less popular but no less effective solutions. Regardless of the tool chosen, regular testing helps prevent failures, improve system performance, and ensure the smooth operation of the software. If you are looking for a reliable provider of load testing services, then you should pay attention to PFLB.
