Checklist of Load Testing Best Practices

  November 07, 2019

Performance tests have become critical for modern web applications. The lightning fast speed of Amazon, Facebook, and Google has made users accustomed to fast pages loads and less patient with slow websites. Load tests are the only way to ensure that your application is performant before deploying it to production.

While load tests may seem straightforward, there are some caveats – and many development teams forget them. These mistakes can lead to inaccurate test results and make it harder to debug bottlenecks.

Check out our article on 3 Common Load Testing Mistakes You Can Easily Make.

Use this checklist to help you identify areas to improve your load testing efforts.

  • Start with Critical Scenarios
    If you’re just starting to add load tests, focus on the most critical user workflows rather than trying to add tests covering everything.
  • Set Realistic Benchmarks
    Analyze your existing application’s load and use that as a benchmark rather than trying to find arbitrary starting points.
  • Incorporate Load Tests into CI
    Load tests aren’t very helpful when they’re run infrequently. Incorporating them into a continuous integration process can maximize their utility.
  • Analyze the Results
    After running a load test, identify the root cause of the problem by correlating performance bottlenecks with the underlying code.
  • Use Browser-based Tests
    Most JavaScript-heavy web applications should use browser-based tests rather than protocol-based tests for the most accurate picture.
  • Choose the Right Platform
    Select a load testing platform that’s easy to use to maximize usage, as well as accurate and scalable. It should also integrate with your existing test suite.

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