Performance testing or perf testing refers to a software testing process for evaluating several critical factors, such as speed, stability, response time, resource usage, reliability, and scalability of software under a specific workload. Its fundamental objective is to discover and eliminate potential performance bottlenecks in the software. According to experts, performance testing is a critical component of performance engineering.
There are quite a few best practices that improve the overall efficiency of performance testing. In this blog, we have discussed the essential components of a successful performance testing strategy.
Test often and test early
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Follow the agile approach by testing often and testing early. Remain iterative during your development cycle for identifying the performance gaps sooner and quicker during the development phase.
Analyze user requirements
Besides assessing how well the clustered servers are performing, you should also remember to concentrate on user experience at an individual level along with user interface timings.
Create real-life test conditions
It’s essential to test in real-world conditions in a range of client environments and devices. Make a point to combine different client environment load and device by varying both the data and the environment and ensuring that your load simulations are not beginning from zero.
Understand that performance is subjective
It would help if you understood that the first and foremost thing all users want is to receive valuable information in the fastest possible manner. So, when evaluating load times, you should include client processing time as well.
Correlate performance bottlenecks with your testing strategy
Developing an impeccable testing environment and understanding the users’ viewpoint concerning performance is vital when planning a successful performance testing strategy. It’s equally essential to correlate the underlying ill-behaving code (which produces those problems in the first place) with your performance bottlenecks.
Quantify performance metrics
An ideal performance testing metrics should include the mean latency time, average load time, most prolonged time for request fulfillment, estimated error rates, memory consumption and CPU utilization required for single request processing, the total number of active users at any given instance, and the total number of requests that are estimated to be handled at any given second.
Test individual units, both collectively and individually
As your applications involve several systems, for instance, services, databases, and servers, you should never forget to test them together and separately under different loads to ensure that your applications’ overall performance is not impacted when the load volumes are altered.
Define test conditions
Conducting an extensive requirement assessment, analyzing the testing objectives, and defining your testing goals play a pivotal role in specifying the test conditions. Furthermore, it’s essential to keep in mind the physical and logical architecture, identify the hardware, network, and software pre-requisites, and compare the production environment with that of the testing when trying to define the latter one.
Put more emphasis on test reports
Focusing on the test reports will help you understand which tests were productive, which ones require reprioritizing, and which need to be performed again. You should systematically consolidate and evaluate those reports and share the outcomes (application behavior observations) with all stakeholders.
Alerts and monitoring
Configure alerts for informing the concerned professionals whenever the load times plummet below the threshold or any other issue. It proactively resolves your performance bottlenecks and ensures a satisfactory end-user experience.
Performance testing by experienced professionals
Successful performance testing is the core competency of Zumar Consults. We have a handpicked team of computer experts possessing several years of industry experience in performance engineering. Call us now to share your requirements to book a consultation with our technical specialists.
