Performance Testing – Software Testing

Prerequisite – Types of Software Testing
Performance Testing is a type of software testing that ensures software applications perform properly under their expected workload. It is a testing technique carried out to determine system performance in terms of sensitivity, reactivity, and stability under a particular workload. 

Performance testing is a type of software testing that focuses on evaluating the performance and scalability of a system or application. The goal of performance testing is to identify bottlenecks, measure system performance under various loads and conditions, and ensure that the system can handle the expected number of users or transactions.

There are several types of performance testing, including:

• Load testing: Load testing simulates a real-world load on the system to see how it performs under stress. It helps identify bottlenecks and determine the maximum number of users or transactions the system can handle.
• Stress testing: Stress testing is a type of load testing that tests the system’s ability to handle a high load above normal usage levels. It helps identify the breaking point of the system and any potential issues that may occur under heavy load conditions.
• Spike testing: Spike testing is a type of load testing that tests the system’s ability to handle sudden spikes in traffic. It helps identify any issues that may occur when the system is suddenly hit with a high number of requests.
• Soak testing: Soak testing is a type of load testing that tests the system’s ability to handle a sustained load over a prolonged period. It helps identify any issues that may occur after prolonged usage of the system.
• Endurance testing: This type of testing is similar to soak testing, but it focuses on the long-term behaviour of the system under a constant load.
• Performance Testing is the process of analysing the quality and capability of a product. It is a testing method performed to determine the system’s performance in terms of speed, reliability, and stability under varying workloads. Performance testing is also known as Perf Testing.

Performance Testing Attributes:

• Speed:
  It determines whether the software product responds rapidly.
• Scalability:
  It determines the amount of load the software product can handle at a time.
• Stability:
  It determines whether the software product is stable in case of varying workloads.
• Reliability:
  It determines whether the software product is secure or not.

Objective of Performance Testing:

1. The objective of performance testing is to eliminate performance congestion.
2. It uncovers what needs to be improved before the product is launched in the market.
3. The objective of performance testing is to make software rapid.
4. The objective of performance testing is to make software stable and reliable.
5. The objective of performance testing is to evaluate the performance and scalability of a system or application under various loads and conditions. It helps identify bottlenecks, measure system performance, and ensure that the system can handle the expected number of users or transactions. It also helps to ensure that the system is reliable, stable, and can handle the expected load in a production environment.

Types of Performance Testing:

1. Load testing:
   It checks the product’s ability to perform under anticipated user loads. The objective is to identify performance congestion before the software product is launched in the market.
2. Stress testing:
   It involves testing a product under extreme workloads to see whether it handles high traffic or not. The objective is to identify the breaking point of a software product.
3. Endurance testing:
   It is performed to ensure the software can handle the expected load over a long period.
4. Spike testing:
   It tests the product’s reaction to sudden large spikes in the load generated by users.
5. Volume testing:
   In volume testing, large number of data is saved in a database and the overall software system’s behaviour is observed. The objective is to check the product’s performance under varying database volumes.
6. Scalability testing:
   In scalability testing, the software application’s effectiveness is determined by scaling up to support an increase in user load. It helps in planning capacity additions to your software system.

Performance Testing Process:

Performance Testing Tools:

1. Jmeter
2. Open STA
3. Load Runner
4. Web Load

Advantages of Performance Testing :

• Performance testing ensures the speed, load capability, accuracy, and other performances of the system.
• It identifies, monitors, and resolves the issues if anything occurs.
• It ensures the great optimization of the software and also allows many users to use it at the same time.
• It ensures the client as well as end-customer’s satisfaction. Performance testing has several advantages that make it an important aspect of software testing:
• Identifying bottlenecks: Performance testing helps identify bottlenecks in the system such as slow database queries, insufficient memory, or network congestion. This helps developers optimize the system and ensure that it can handle the expected number of users or transactions.
• Improved scalability: By identifying the system’s maximum capacity, performance testing helps ensure that the system can handle an increasing number of users or transactions over time. This is particularly important for web-based systems and applications that are expected to handle a high volume of traffic.
• Improved reliability: Performance testing helps identify any potential issues that may occur under heavy load conditions, such as increased error rates or slow response times. This helps ensure that the system is reliable and stable when it is deployed to production.
• Reduced risk: By identifying potential issues before deployment, performance testing helps reduce the risk of system failure or poor performance in production.
• Cost-effective: Performance testing is more cost-effective than fixing problems that occur in production. It is much cheaper to identify and fix issues during the testing phase than after deployment.
• Improved user experience: By identifying and addressing bottlenecks, performance testing helps ensure that users have a positive experience when using the system. This can help improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Better Preparation: Performance testing can also help organizations prepare for unexpected traffic patterns or changes in usage that might occur in the future.
• Compliance: Performance testing can help organizations meet regulatory and industry standards.
• Better understanding of the system: Performance testing provides a better understanding of how the system behaves under different conditions, which can help in identifying potential issue areas and improving the overall design of the system.

Disadvantages of Performance Testing :

• Sometimes, users may find performance issues in the real-time environment.
• Team members who are writing test scripts or test cases in the automation tool should have a high level of knowledge.
• Team members should have high proficiency in debugging the test cases or test scripts.
• Low performances in the real environment may lead to loss of large number of users
• Performance testing also has some disadvantages, which include:
• Resource-intensive: Performance testing can be resource-intensive, requiring significant hardware and software resources to simulate many users or transactions. This can make performance testing expensive and time-consuming.
• Complexity: Performance testing can be complex, requiring specialized knowledge and expertise to set up and execute effectively. This can make it difficult for teams with limited resources or experience to perform performance testing.
• Limited testing scope: Performance testing is focused on the performance of the system under stress, and it may not be able to identify all types of issues or bugs. It’s important to combine performance testing with other types of testing such as functional testing, regression testing, and acceptance testing.
• Inaccurate results: If the performance testing environment is not representative of the production environment or the performance test scenarios do not accurately simulate real-world usage, the results of the test may not be accurate.
• Difficulty in simulating real-world usage: It’s difficult to simulate real-world usage, and it’s hard to predict how users will interact with the system. This makes it difficult to know if the system will handle the expected load.
• Complexity in analysing the results: Performance testing generates a large amount of data, and it can be difficult to analyse the results and determine the root cause of performance issues.