An open source, web service testing tool – SoapUI encompasses multiple types like functional testing, load testing, compliance testing, interoperability testing, regression testing and much more.
SOAP represents Simple Object Access Protocol, which heavily depends upon XML and along with schemas, defines a strongly typed messaging framework. Each and every operation that the service provides is explicitly defined, along with the XML structure of the request and response for that operation. Codified in the WSDL – Web Service Description Language, it is explained as a contract between the provider and the consumer of the service. On programming grounds, WSDL is used as a method signature for the web service. Entirely built on the Java platform, it uses Swing as the user interface and hence it is termed as Cross Platform. Now, it also supports IDEA, Eclipse and NetBeans.
Why is Web Service Testing Essential?
The loosely coupled nature of web services and non-existence of a user interface thrust upon a challenge to the developers and testers alike. Certain significant factors lead to a growing requirement in Web Service Testing. Let us look through them in order to justify why is SoapUI a must today.
• Scalability and Security
Since the number of users connected to the service and security is not assumable, the scalability and security is a major concern which needs to be addressed. Also, it is essential to know in advance the performance impact in case there are a large number of users connecting to the web service.
• Absence of UI
Unlike traditional web applications, web services do not have a user interface. Hence they cannot be tested manually and require writing of test cases. For this the tester needs to have programming skills and an overview of the web services fundamentals.
• Distributed across network
Applications are generally built by integrating many web services to leverage existing web service functionality. These web services could be developed by the same developer or could off loaded to a third party. Hence, thorough black box testing must be performed. Since these services are distributed over the network and may be hosted on different operating systems and deployed in different environments, it is imperative to take into consideration the issues of availability, performance, reliability and security.
Challenges Faced While Using SoapUI
- Mandatory certification is required in SoapUI to access web services
- In case of any error, the reason is never displayed. It just shows the fault response leading to a trouble for a non-technical person.
- No visual way of executing tests on an application, hence, it is difficult for the end user as well as the developer to produce tests which are self explanatory.
- Since parameterization is difficult to understand and SoapUI brings its own protocol, it cannot be used for web applications.
- Very less compatibility like Android does not support SOAP library.
We at SPEC QA, stick to our quality standards and ensure a quality rich, fully tested product to our customers. We have experience in a variety of testing frameworks and a skilled set of resources to implement those.
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