API Regression Suite: Effective Technique & Benefits

With APIs carrying the majority of the functional and business logic for applications, teams use a variety of open source and in-house tools for testing APIs but struggle to catch every possible error.

There is a way to catch every error, every critical regression in your APIs without writing a single line of code.

Why do existing regression techniques fail?

The hardest thing about writing API or backend tests is accurately defining the expected behavior.

With 80%+ of the web or mobile traffic powered by APIs, all new features in applications involve a corresponding update or change in relevant APIs.

These changes would be of two types, desired i.e. ones that are intended, and undesired i.e. the ones that might break the application as side-effects and result in bugs. It is hardest to find these side-effects or regression issues because unless one asserts every single validation across all the APIs, new changes will break some unasserted validation, causing an unknown bug. To ensure the expected behavior of applications remains intact forever means anticipating and testing every new change, which becomes harder to impossible as the number of APIs increases and becomes more complex.

The Solution

API changes that can cause application failures would because of either:

Contract or schema changes
Data validation issues or simply
Status code failures

The best test strategy is the one that reports all changes across all updated APIs in the new build. However, as applications grow and involve more APIs, covering and testing all new changes becomes increasingly difficult. The simplest way to catch deviance from expected behavior in APIs is to compare them with the version that is stable or currently live with users.

The existing version of the API or application that is currently live with users is the source of truth. Any deviance from how the application currently works (expected) is going to become a bug or problem (unexpected).

Summing it Up with HyperTest

A regression suite that compares responses across the 2 versions for the same user-flow is the surest way to ensure no breaking change has happened, and the deviance in response is the only possibility of any breaking change.

HyperTest is the only solution you need to build an API regression suite. It is a no-code autonomous API testing tool that generates tests automatically based on the real network traffic. Its data-driven testing approach makes sure to run contract[+data] tests that never let you miss any API failure again.

If you're worried about leaking bugs to production, HyperTest can help mitigate those concerns. By using the first-of-its-kind HyperTest platform, you can rigorously test your APIs and Microservices. To learn more or request a demo, please visit https://hypertest.co/.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is API regression testing?

API regression testing is a type of software testing that ensures that new code changes in an API do not introduce regressions, i.e., unintended side-effects that may break existing functionality or cause new bugs.

2. Why do traditional regression testing methods fail?

Traditional regression testing methods often fail because they may not cover every possible validation across all APIs, leading to potential unknown bugs when unasserted validations are broken by new changes.

3. How does HyperTest address the challenges of API regression testing?

HyperTest addresses these challenges by providing a no-code, autonomous API testing tool that automatically generates tests based on real network traffic, ensuring that all contract and data validations are tested.