API Automation Testing has gained significant prominence in the software testing sector nowadays, and organizations are actively seeking individuals skilled in API testing and automation.
In this post, let us look at the transition to API Automation Testing and the necessary skills required.

Exploring API Automation Testing with a basic programming language

If you are a manual tester with experience in Postman and API testing, you might find it easy to transition to a new job in API Automation Testing.

Although you might not have a strong passion for programming, possessing a grounding in core Java or basic programming can significantly streamline the task of automation development.

Many companies directly hire testers with minimal programming language abilities and put them into an API testing project that includes manual and automation testing.

Getting started — API Testing with any programming language

Programming languages offer ways to work with API data, like parsing and changing JSON or XML data, which is often used in API responses.

Check out these tips for getting started with API Automation Testing using some basic programming languages!

1️⃣ Pick a Testing Framework that supports API testing

Ex: Mocha or Jest for JavaScript,JUnit or TestNG for java,pytest or unittest for python

2️⃣ Pick an HTTP library to send requests to the API

Ex: Axios or Superagent for JavaScript,Apache HttpClient or OkHttp,requests or http.client for python

3️⃣ Define Test Cases by involving test scripts sending HTTP requests and verifying the response.

4️⃣ Utilizing mock data or libraries becomes essential when testing APIs that require authentication or rely on dependencies that might be inaccessible during the testing phase.

You can use mocking libraries like unittest.mock,Mockito,or responses to pretend the responses. This helps to keep the API under check and make sure the tests are dependable.

5️⃣ Setting Up the Environment to install libraries and configure parameters for testing.

6️⃣ Use of test result reporting features to execute tests and view results

Most testing frameworks have thorough test result reporting features.

7️⃣ Use Continuous Integration systems like Jenkins or Travis C to integrate a suite of tests.

This automatically runs tests after code changes, catching errors early.

Coding is Essential

Proficiency in programming languages and coding holds significance in API testing as it empowers testers to create robust and efficient test scripts capable of managing intricate scenarios. This enables thorough examination of how the API functions under various conditions.

Read More — The basics before starting API testing.

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Key Pointers

Concluding some ways where programming language and coding knowledge can help testers in API Testing:

If you know how to code

👉you can write automated test scripts using programming languages.
Can easily handle data formats like JSON and XML, parse them, and make sure they’re valid using libraries and frameworks.

👉Can help testers get deep into the responses and find problems like wrong status codes, slow response times, and bad data.

👉Creating custom scripts enables you to evaluate the performance, responsiveness, and capacity of APIs, as well as gauge the frequency of errors. Subsequently, these insights can be used to optimize the API's functionality for enhanced performance.

Hence, the simplest approach to acquaint yourself with API testing is to directly engage in hands-on experience.

While coding skills aren't always mandatory for API testing, possessing a degree of programming knowledge can certainly prove advantageous.

It’s always good to keep up with the latest developments in API technology and best practices.

Also Read The Part 1- API Testing Made Fun and Easy: Dive into Part 1 Now!

Also Read The Part 2- “Ready for API Testing Automation?” Here’s what you need to know first- Part 2

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