Mobile App Development: Why Do We Need Performance Testing?
Every day, more and more issues related to the performance of a mobile application are reported by customers. Most of the mobile apps that exist in the market were actually designed to be used by masses. One of the most important aspects that help these applications gain user confidence is the stability and speed while the application is being used. So, if the applications are taking time to complete simultaneous operations, the user will prefer searching for a new option that helps cover his or her needs.
Performance testing for mobile app development is the process that helps measure how an application works under particular workloads. It is focused on the non-functional attributes and it allows us to find out how it will work under high traffic of users operations and allows measuring the speed, reliability and competence of any application.
As an app tester, you can do performance tests with a white box or black box approach. When it’s used as a white box technique, you can see how the code is being executed and detect where an improvement can be done. When it’s used as a black box approach, you can simulate the users and transactions that will be supported and the time that the application takes to respond to it.
Types of Performance Testing
There are multiples types of performance testing and according to the customer requirement we can choose the best type that will solve the performance need.
Load Testing
Load testing technique is applied to know the behavior of an application under normal and expected peak load conditions while it is being used in a production environment. This technique is used to verify if an application meets the desired performance objectives and it´s focused on the measure of response times, throughout the rates and breaking.
Benefits:
- Detect functionality or concurrence issues produce under load.
- Determine the hardware environment needed accuracy to use the application.
- Detect how many users and how much load is supported before the application performance is compromised.
Stress Testing
Stress testing technique is applied to detect under which conditions an application will fail. The goal of this technique is to identify bugs that only will be present under extremely highly load conditions. Stress testing allows you to identify memory leaks, race conditions and synchronization issues. It is also is important to identify how fast the application can recover after an adverse event.
Benefits:
- Detect if the data used will we corrupted when application fails.
- Detect how much load will be support before a fail is present or the speed becomes slower.
- Allows you to identify where the monitoring triggers can be established to warn when the application performance is compromised.
- Determine which actions should be performed to redirect the risks.
Capacity Tests
Capacity testing technique is related to stress testing. It tries to identify how much users and transactions are supported before a fail will be present. This technique is used to plan how an application capacity can grow, ensuring the correct operation while the number of users and transactions is increased.
Benefits:
- Determine how the workloads can be redirected to ensure that application meets the business requirements.
- Detect the actual usage and capacity supported and how much those can increase.
- Execute multiples test to compare the capacity-planning models and predictions.
Goals of Performance Testing
The performance testing is one of the main attributes that should be considered when defining whether an application will be successful or not. The goals of this testing type are:
- Determine that the application will cover the performance needs of the requirement.
- Validate that the application will avoid failures of big workloads.
- Ensure that the application capacity can be grown without affects the performance.
- Validate that the hardware used is the adequate.
Final Thoughts
Due the high number of applications that are actually in the market, it’s more difficult to gain the users trust. So now, not only the functional aspects should be considered during developing, but the users should see extra attributes that makes them happy while they are using the application.
One of the aspect is the performance of the application under normal workloads. Performance testing is the best way to determine how the application will work and avoid big failures in real work conditions.
About the Author
Abel Gonzalez is a Computer Systems Engineer with more than 3 years of experience in software testing for mobile and web.
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