What Is Load Testing? Complete Guide

If you want to learn about testing and different types, the chances are that you already know about functionality testing and non-functionality testing. The latter includes UI testing, security testing, and finally, performance testing. So, load testing falls under the non-functionality testing because it is a subset of performance testing.

If someone mentions they are testing the performance of an application, they are most likely trying the load, capacity, volume or stress.

Load testing is usually done to check the condition and performance of the app under various conditions. For example, how speed could be affected if multiple users access the app simultaneously.

An Example of Load Testing

Even though you know what load testing is, there are things you need to understand on a situational level. For example, your client tells you to make an app which has a login page that loads in 2-4 seconds. He also says that it should work smoothly for at least 4000 users, so what would you do? You won't take those things separately, but take both in one go. You will work on the login page to load in 2-4 sec for all 4000 users. This will be done through various performance tests. 

Types of Load Testing 

There are a few load testing's types, some of which are done with tools, while others being manual. To understand which one works better, we will need to get you through their details.

Manually Performed Load Testing

This type of load testing is often regarded as the least efficient type because when things are done manually, there isn't enough stress put on the application. This sort of load testing can also be expensive because it requires a lot of workers doing the test at the same time. 

Because it's inefficient and requires a lot of workforces, there are other options which solve both problems.

Load Testing by Company's Tools

This type may be the best because your company can have its tool and is continuously made better depending on the kind of work company handles. So, it can suit your work better than most. However, sometimes the tools can also be inefficient, and you will end up resorting to other paid means.

Load Testing Tools

These tools come in two kinds, some free of charge, while others work professionally by paying. The free ones are good for work on a smaller scale but are not recommended, while the paid ones can be even better than the company's because they work on an international level. These tools are most often the first choice of many experts.

How to Perform Load Testing?

The following steps show how load testing is performed with tools.

1. The first step is environment setup, which should be as close to the production environment as possible. These similarities are in terms of hardware, network, and software specs.
2. Once you finish that, you have to finalize the performance criteria before commencing. The things included in criteria are limits in response time, transactions, or any other desired feature.
3. Then, you plan the test and how the steps will go, predicting specific scenarios so you can be prepared. 
4. Create virtual users, each user containing tasks they must do in the app. This test helps measure the capacity and load of the app when multiple users access it.
5. Once you finish that, you need to give a combination of scenarios to each user, bot, or any subject. This helps the test to go smoothly, and the main goal here is to see if things go as they are supposed to.
6. Once preparations are done, all the virtual users open the app and perform loads of tasks simultaneously, which determines the capacity, stress, and load of the app. How much time a specific page or feature takes if this option works correctly. All these questions are answered in this step. But the results can be in raw form and need to be monitored first before analyzing. 
7. You have to monitor the results and how the testing goes, calculating and noting all the details. These details are further analyzed, which gives an almost perfect estimate of things which were tested. The test is officially completed here because the objective of this testing is to collect the data, so you can improve the items which need work.

Benefits of Load Testing

Load testing is a crucial test which determines many of the things we should know and work on. Because overlooking these things can cause in the crashing of the app, leading to a massive loss for the owners. 

• Helps to identify the problems that the application is facing, because not all issues can be placed in the previously done tests.
• It ensures that performance capacity meets the requirements of the clients' needs.
• It identifies any bugs that the application has, which should be fixed before the application is officially introduced to people.
• Risk of failure or crashes is significantly reduced, which leads to higher customer satisfaction.

Role of Proxies in Load Testing

Dedicated proxies are used for multiple reasons in load testing. You can create a simulation of the virtual users belonging to different places by giving them different IPs through the proxy. This leads to more accurate results and adds more environmental settings for you. Another reason people like to use proxies is that the signals have to go a long way to reach proxy servers, and then travel back. If you want to test the capability and load of the app when people from far places perform tasks, this creates an almost perfect simulation. Because your users can have different region IP, and be almost realistic in the apps view.

Conclusion

Load testing is one of the most critical forms of testing for checking the performance of the app. You can identify many issues in the app and overcome them with a plan in mind. This step is so crucial that when neglected, there will be a significant loss for the owner of the app, and you end up with a bad reputation. When big companies fail this and have app crashes for even 30 minutes, they end up with a loss of thousands of dollars. So, its best to perform this as accurately as possible and reduce all bugs and risks.