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Everything about API testing

Automated software testing of programmable application interfaces (APIs)

API testing is a type of software testing that involves testing application programming interfaces (APIs) directly and as part of integration testing to determine if they meet expectations for functionality, reliability, performance, and security. Since APIs lack a GUI, API testing is performed at the message layer. API testing is now considered critical for automating testing because APIs serve as the primary interface to application logic and because GUI tests are difficult to maintain with the short release cycles and frequent changes commonly used with Agile software development and DevOps. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: API testingA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: A Human-centered Evaluation of a Toxicity Detection API: Testing Transferability and Unpacking Latent AttributesInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: IEEE standard for information technologyThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: RESTful API Testing Methodologies: Rationale, Challenges, and Solution DirectionsCited 92 times
  5. Go sideways: Continuous testingA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Functional testingA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. API testing overview
  2. API testing, GUI testing, and test automation
  3. Types of API testing

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics