Delivering quality software products quickly to the market is the objective that most enterprises set out for but do not quite achieve to their satisfaction. This is because, in most cases, the system components needed for end-to-end testing and integration are unavailable in the test environment. These services or dependencies such as APIs, third-party applications, and datasets, among others are often conspicuous by their absence. The reasons include the following:
Thus, even though the development of software products can be expedited with streamlined processes, better communication, and frequent automated testing, the wait for dependencies can throw a spanner in the works. This is because simple unit tests can be performed on sets of codes in isolation but not comprehensive testing and integration in the absence of crucial dependencies. No wonder service virtualizationhas become the buzzword for enterprises and test specialists to implement.
What is service virtualization testing?
It is a process wherein test specialists can avoid production services and use virtual services to simulate interfaces thereby accelerating testing. Service virtualization allows software testing when crucial dependencies are not available or configured for the purpose. This is done by simulating dependencies and mimicking their behavior in the test environment thereby accelerating the process of integration testing in the SDLC. Thus, key bottlenecks in the testing process are removed and the application under test is pushed forth in the production environment. Therefore, when it comes to the presence of various system components and their need to work in synchrony, a robust service virtualization strategycan fill the gap. This is done by simulating the responses or behavior of such components to ascertain how they would interact in real-time. Service virtualization testing is particularly useful when developing complex cloud-based enterprise solutions. It speeds up testing, identification of glitches, integration, and delivery of software products and services.
In the Agile/DevOps setup when there is a need to boost test automation, test specialists can undertake service virtualization implementationto aid faster testing, development, and delivery of products in a CI/CD pipeline. Thus, service virtualization can offer the following outcomes or benefits:
How to perform service virtualization testing the right way
Given the myriad benefits of service virtualization implementation, the process should be performed meticulously.
Conclusion
Service virtualizationhelps developers to use their own data sets and conduct better testing before sending the codes to the test environment. This ‘shift left’ practice of testing leads to better detection of glitches early on in the development phase. The biggest advantage is about reducing the testing time in the SDLC compared to the traditional method - from weeks to days. Thus, the process delivers better quality software frequently and helps the organization gain competitive advantage.