Can automated testing driven by real user traffic become the mainstream automated testing tool?

Daniel Qin
1 reply
Recently, I investigated the mainstream API automated testing tools and found no automated testing tools based on traffic recording and playback (page operation recording and playback are not within the scope of discussion). The traffic recording and playback technology of my previous company (Alibaba) has been adopted by many testing teams. Taking the test group of the trading technology department as an example, this technology has brought them the following benefits: 1) Improved test coverage: helped them build about 100,000 core test cases and nearly one million non-core test cases. (Before using this technology, they could only maintain 2,000 core test cases due to the cost of test case writing and maintenance) 2) Improved test efficiency: In the past, completing an automated test relied on many downstream services, but now they are decoupled through the mock playback mechanism. 3) Using traffic recording and playback testing during system reconstruction helped them avoid many bugs. At present, my view is that there is a great opportunity for the following reasons: 1) Companies that have already built automated testing, is their automated coverage sufficient? How high is the cost of maintaining such automated testing? Can this technology be used to improve quality and efficiency? 2) It is troublesome to build test cases for some backend services using existing automated testing tools, such as map backend services and data stream processing backend services. Is traffic testing a better way? 3) This technology is a test script automatic generation technology that can free testers from the task of writing test scripts and give them more energy to consider how to further improve system quality. I posted this to see everyone's opinions and to recruit the first batch of users of the new products I released : https://www.producthunt.com/products/jiterator

Replies

Kai Bennett
Automated testing using real user traffic will definitely become a mainstream tool. and here's why: Coverage and cost: Many companies struggle with the cost and effectiveness of maintaining their automated testing suites. Using real user traffic could potentially reduce costs and improve coverage since it generates test cases automatically. Backend testing: Backend services, such as map or data stream processing services, can be challenging to test with traditional automated tools. Real traffic testing offers a potentially more straightforward and effective solution for these services. Efficiency and quality: The use of traffic recording and playback technology can significantly improve testing efficiency by decoupling tests from downstream services and identifying bugs earlier in the process.
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