Microservice architecture is gaining momentum due to its manageability and ease of integration. We can build complex applications by implementing microservice architecture, building smaller autonomous applications that are fully functional and can be integrated to perform at a larger scale. These are small independent units of applications that communicate with each other to perform complex functionalities of the business as a suite of services. Such an architecture, with automation, is easier to manage and intelligently integrates with other modules. Microservice architecture is best to develop and deploy applications that are scalable, adaptable, intelligent, and flexible.
Automation Testing
Testing Microservices
Testing microservices is more manageable due to its size. It is integral to the functioning of the microservice as an independent application as well as during integration. Don’t be deceived that microservices are smaller units of applications since their capabilities will be to handle large volumes of data and processing it. The following aspects of automation testing can be considered for microservices:
Test Each Service Individually
We must treat every microservice as an independent unit of application. Thus, each unit should be tested individually to make sure its functionality is well-satisfied. We can automate this for volume and functionality for each microservice. Make sure that each microservice serves its functional purpose individually.
Cloud-based Testing
Instead of focusing on small local-group testing, cloud-based testing should be opted for microservices. This will ensure that they are scalable to handle more data and integrate well with other services.
Test in Multiple Environments
Dynamically, create a different test environment to make sure that the unit performs perfectly across the various environments that call it. This is more challenging when it comes to identifying the bugs but will make sure that the microservice is robust across environments.
Test for Integration
Just as the individual functionality is important for microservices, how well they integrate with the other microservices in the environment is equally important. It ensures that we are able to well-define the communications and dependencies in each microservice that we test.
End to End Tests
Check all microservice integrations thoroughly and make sure that we satisfy all communications and data interactions by the various microservices within the environment.
Artificial Intelligence in Testing
AI integrated automation testing can reduce the human effort and improve the quality of microservices. We use machine learning algorithms to determine the probable outcome of tests which is used to automate integration with apps and other modules. It also equips the application or service to handle large volumes of data seamlessly. AI can do the canary testing wherein one set of testers get a different environment, while the others are working on the old code. The error rate, responsiveness, and service load can be measured and based on these, whether the code will throw an error or not can be predicted more accurately.
Testing the UI for Functionality
Testing how the end-user would interact determines how easy and successful the microservice would be. We can automate UI testing for functionality, errors, and ease of use to ensure that it works seamlessly with other modules or microservices in the system.
While implementing automation testing for microservices, the following points are of utmost importance:
Automation Testing should be a core process
Start pulling real data with AWS spot pricing or something similar carefully considering GDPR
Automate canary testing
Continuously monitor the performance