API Testing journey

 

API Testing journey


  I've been working on learning API testing for quite some time. I was only aware of the acronym API, which stands for application programming interface, until 2022. I started my search on Google because I wanted to learn more than that.


 I Completed the following courses on various education platforms:


1. Coursera — Postman - Intro to APIs (without coding)

2. Coursera — Start Your API Testing Journey With Postman Tool

3. Udemy —  REST APIs with Postman for Absolute Beginners

4.  MOT -https://github.com/g33klady/TodoApiSample/tree/main/Resources. https://github.com/g33klady/TodoApiSample

5. LinkedIn Learning — API Testing Foundations

6. Test Automation university: https://testautomationu.applitools.com/exploring-service-apis-through-test-automation/

7. Test Automation university: https://testautomationu.applitools.com/python-api-testing/



   Postman was discussed as a tool for API testing in the first three courses. In order to test an API endpoint, I needed to know what to test. For a complete beginner like me, the LinkedIn course "API Testing Foundations" provided a fantastic introduction.


  I found yet another guide for what and how to test an API when I attended a session led by the Ministry of Testing. Resources can be found at https://github.com/g33klady/TodoApiSample/tree/main/Resources.


   At this point, I was stuck at testing APIs which requires authentication and authorization.I learned about authentication and authorization from the following books:


  The book "Automating and Testing a REST API" by Alan Richardson was the next thing I read and practiced. I attempted it with Python even though the book contains examples in JAVA.


  After that, I was reading Kristin Jacky's "The Complete Software Tester." She has a dedicated section for API testing in her book. With Postman and Python, I practiced the application from that book. Here, at API testing with Bearer token, I've documented my testing this time.



  From there, there was no turning back. During the holiday break, I had automated a user testing flow using concepts from API chaining, a collection runner, environment variables, etc. I'll choose a test flow soon and create a new blog post.


  Where am I now, then? Anticipating my “15 Days of Postman” badge.  I tried to finish all of the challenges in the 15-day Postman test challenge for API testing experts over the weekend. It was an excellent opportunity to learn and gauge my proficiency. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  What I noticed after starting to blog    “ Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man” –Francis Bacon  In summer 2022, I was on the lookout for ways to improve my testing skills. From LinkedIn, I found various testers talking about getting trained by Ajay Balamurugadas . I reached out to Ajay. After a meeting, he agreed to train me 😀.  The training started, and I was making steady progress. Ajay questioned me after a few sessions if I had ever written a blog and urged me to do so right away. I wasn’t ready for it. Here is why...   Usually, Slack and email are the places where I write (or type 😜). Most of my responses would consist of no more than four words per sentence!!  My status reports and testing notes are the longest documents I produce. Naturally, I wasn't prepared, so when I heard about starting a blog, I found it amusing. One fine day I sat and started, I was just typing and deleting.. Couldn’t move past the first sentence (or word :-)
Read more

My first time attending a software launch party

Image
  Postman celebrated the introduction of Postman Flows this week in San Francisco, on August 16th 2023. Following the release of Postman Flows a few months ago, Beth Marshall posted a YouTube video explaining how testers might use it for API testing procedures.   Ever since I started my API testing journey, I've been watching for Postman's announcements, challenges, You Tube Live sessions, and demonstrations. So I made the decision to go to this event as well.    When I arrived , Postman Flow was being used to welcome every registered guest. My name flashed on the welcome board when I clicked Run on their flow they had created after signing in (I forgot to take a picture of it). Greetings flow Two customers demonstrated how they are utilizing Flows to address issues and open up new possibilities. One of them includes a flow designed specifically for integration testing.   I was able to use Flows to design my very own, uniquely branded Postman YETI and select the swag I wanted (
Read more
  Observation: How it has helped me as a tester? In one of the chapters of her book, "Explore IT," Elizabeth Hendrickson discusses observation and how it is crucial for exploratory testing. Checking logs for surprises is one technique to observe during testing. I was brought back to my days as a mid-level test engineer while reading it. On the user's side, the product appeared to be relatively straightforward, but it actually had a sophisticated architecture and a lot of moving components. For this product, there were very few user interactions; everything took place in the background, and logs were essential for troubleshooting. When I first discovered a bug, I would gather proof—reproducing steps, error logs—most often grep 'error' log files—and screenshots—and be prepared to report the issue. My manager would ping me with questions like, "Did you try to reproduce the bug in another test combination?" and "Did you check that?" and “Did you tr
Read more