I spent this week cutting my teeth on test automation by revising a set of web performance acceptance tests for an internal database tool. Web performance tests are basically coded scripts that run against a web service, validating that certain functionalities are present and that response times are within the defined standard. Besides just revising and updating the existing test suite, I also created several new tests for features that were not already within the test coverage.
I spent a good chunk of time defining a set of reusable components for basic things like page navigation, so that creating future web performance tests tests is somewhat streamlined. By the time I was done with these, I had learned quite a bit about HTTP and data extraction from web services. I now feel confident in my own ability to create a set of meaningful automated tests of a web page/web service.
I also took some time to explore creating my own sample WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) web service and client application. This was just an ASPX webpage interface that let a user browse and edit an underlying SQL database. It was a pretty basic program but gave me a deeper understanding of what was going on under the hood of the web services I’ve been working on.
Other than all that, I also met with my supervisor and received a high-level overview of performance engineering. Now that I have learned basic web performance testing, I will move on to learning about creating and analyzing load, stress, stability, failover, and endurance tests– whew! It’s going to be a busy summer.
Oh, and a couple personal highlights– the office ergonomics expert switched out my old chair for a giant, awesome new chair that looks like a CEO should be sitting in it. Definite upgrade! Also, the intern who sits next to me had been out sick all week, and I came in one day to find this:
You would think WotC, of all places, would keep a cleric on staff to remove curses.
A couple of times, I could swear I saw its hand move out of the corner of my eye…
Looking forward to diving into more testing next week!
