Automating and Testing a REST API
Automating and Testing a REST API
A Case Study in API testing using: Java, REST Assured, Postman, Tracks, cURL and HTTP Proxies
About the Book
Have you ever wished that you had a worked example of how to test a REST API? Not just automate the API, but how to interact with it, using command line and GUI tools, to support your manual interactive testing. Then take your testing forward into automating the API?
That's what this book provides. A step by step case study covering:
- How to read the REST API documentation.
- How to tell if the application is using the API.
- How to interact with the API from the command line with cURL.
- Automating with BASH and Windows Command Line.
- Sending API requests through an HTTP Proxy so you can see in detail the requests and responses.
- How to use HTTP Proxies to create data in the application through Fuzzing.
- Postman REST API GUI tool.
- Automate 'under the GUI' parts of the application that don't have an API.
- Automate the API with Java using REST Assured.
- Build abstraction code to make your automated efforts readable and maintainable.
- JSON and XML parsing with Serialization and Deserialization.
The book is fully supported by executable code which you can find on GitHub, and the support page for the book has sample videos showing some of the early steps in the case study in detail.
By working through this case study you will be able to interact with an API from the command line, GUI tools, HTTP messages in Proxies and with Java code.
Over the last few years, the Author has used the Open Source Tracks application as an example testing target to teach: Technical Web Testing, Automating GUIs and REST API Testing.
This book collates the preparatory work and teaching from the REST API workshops. The code from the workshops is included: for creating users, generating random data, testing basic API calls with PUT, GET, POST and DELETE.
Also the early steps of exploring and investigating the API interactively to support manual technical testing are explained in depth.
About the Author
Table of Contents
- Introduction
-
Introduction to APIs
- What Is a Web Application?
- Google Is an Example of a Web Application
- What Is an API?
- What Is an HTTP Request?
- What Is a URL?
- What Are HTTP Verbs?
- What Is an HTTP Response?
- What Is an HTTP Status Code?
- What Are Payloads?
- What Is JSON?
- What Is XML?
- What Are HTTP Headers?
- What Is Authentication?
- What Is REST?
- What Tools Are Used for Accessing an API?
- Example APIs
- Recommended Reading
- Summary
-
Introducing Tracks Case Study
- Support Page
- How to Use This Case Study
- Source Code Location
- Case Study Contents Overview
- Why Test Tracks?
- What Is Tracks and GTD?
- Summary
-
Installing Tracks
- Official Tracks Install
- Pre-Built Virtual Machines
- Using Virtual Machines
- Summary
-
A Tour of Tracks
- Why Learn the GUI If We Are Testing the API?
- Login
- Home Screen
- Starred Screen
- Projects
- Admin
- Basic Functions to Use and Check in the API
- Summary
-
The Tracks REST API
- What Is a REST API?
- Tracks REST API Documentation
- API Doc Examples
- General HTTP REST Return Codes
- Summary
-
Using a Proxy to View GUI Traffic
- Why?
- How?
- Viewing Traffic
- Implications
- Summary
-
Using a Proxy and Fuzzer to Create Users
- Tools
- Capture and Resend the Create User Request
- We Learned
- Using OWASP ZAP Proxy
- Capture Traffic in ZAP and Use the Fuzzer
- Multiple Users Created
- Quick Tip - Creating Data in a Spreadsheet
- Summary
-
Case Study Example Using cURL on Tracks
- What Is cURL?
- Case Study Details
- Installing cURL
- Reading the Examples in Tracks Documentation
- Try the Tracks API Examples
-
Tracks
GETAPI Calls - Adding Data
- Amending Data
- Deleting Data
- Additional References
- Summary
-
Exploring the Tracks API with cURL Through a Proxy
- Using a Proxy with cURL
- For Debugging
- For Exploration
- For Simple Scope Coverage
- Summary
- cURL Summary
-
Exploring Tracks API with Postman REST Client
- The GUI
- Issue Requests
- Postman Collections
- Environment Variables
- Authentication
- Using Postman Through a Proxy
- Recreate cURL Requests in Postman
- Summary
-
How to Use the Source Code
- Source Code Location
- How to Use the Source Code
- Summary
-
Starting to Automate
- Why Explore First?
- Choosing a Java Library
- REST Assured Overview
- REST Assured Related Reading
- Summary
-
The Case Study Overview - Testing Tracks v 2.3.0
- The Tools
- Code Location
- The Approach
- What I Automated
- Summary
-
The Case Study Creating Users with ‘App as API’
- Creating a User In Tracks via the API
- Does This Mean We Have to Stop Automating Here?
- How to Create a User
- ‘App as API’
- Investigating How to Treat the APP as API
- What Requests Do I Need?
- How Do We Do That?
-
TracksAppAsApi - Login Via “App as API”
- Summary
-
The Case Study - Create Random Users Utility
@Test-
A Utility
@TestCase -
The Main Utility
@TestMethod -
Configuring the
@TestUser Creation Utility - Local Abstractions Overview
- Summary
-
A Utility
-
The Case Study - API Abstraction
- Overview of the API Abstractions
-
TracksApiEndPointsExplained -
TracksApi - Domain Objects
- Summary
-
The Case Study - Sending HTTP Calls using REST Assured
-
HttpMessageSender - Summary
-
-
The Case Study - the
TestCode Explored- What Makes It ‘test’?
-
TestEnvDefaults - Synchronisation
-
Synchronisation with
Wait -
TracksResponseProcessor - Summary
-
The Case Study - the Authentication
@TestMethods Explored- Evolving the Authentication Tests
-
AuthenticationTest - Final Test
- Summary
-
The Case Study - the Project
@TestMethods Explored- Create Project
- Amend
- Delete
- Summary
-
The Case Study - the Task
@TestMethods Explored- Supporting Private Methods
- Create
- Delete
- Summary
-
REST Assured JSON and XML Processing
- Code Example Location
- What Is XML?
- What Is JSON?
- REST Assured JSON and XML Parsing
- XML Attributes with GPath
-
JsonPathandXmlPath - Parsing from File or String
- Parsing from URI
- Deserialization to Objects
- Deserialization in Practice
- Serialization in Practice
- More Information
- Summary
-
Summary of REST Assured
- Adding REST Assured with Maven
- Setting a Proxy for REST Assured
- Sending Message with REST Assured
-
given,when,then -
Using
givento Set the Message Details -
Using
whento Make HTTP Requests -
Using
thento Process Response - Basic Example
-
Assertions Using
bodyinthen - JsonPath and XmlPath
- Serialization and Deserialization
- Summary
-
Suggested Exercises
- Installation Exercises
- Coding Exercises
- Refactor and Expand
- Summary
-
Future Refactoring
-
Instead of Returning a
ResponseObject - What Would You Do?
- Refactoring Resources
- Summary
-
Instead of Returning a
-
Conclusions and Summary
- Next Steps
- Reminder of the Non-Obvious
- App as API
- REST Assured Wrapped with Abstractions
- Test Data Creation Through Web Scraping
- Random Test Data Creation
- Extensive Abstraction Creation
- Summary
-
Appendix - Random Data Creation for v 2.3.0 Testing
- Symbol Replacement
-
Interface
TestDataRetriever -
RandomFoodBackedDataRetriever - Generating a Project Name or TODO
- Summary
-
Appendix - Other REST GUI Clients
- Chrome Applications
- Desktop Applications
- Firefox Plugin
- IDE and Editor Plugins
- Appendix - HTTP Debug Proxy and Proxy Support Tools
-
Appendix - Creating Random Data for Tracks v 2.2.0 Testing
- Approach
- Scraping Data Support Classes
- Scraping Data Code
-
Testing the Utility
@TestClass -
Setup Data with the Utility
@TestClass
-
Exploring Tracks API with Postman REST Client
- Using Postman Through a Proxy
- Shared Cookie Jar Gotcha
- About the Author
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Do Well. Do Good.
Authors have earned$10,623,269writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
Jetpack Compose internals
Jorge CastilloJetpack Compose is the future of Android UI. Master how it works internally and become a more efficient developer with it. You'll also find it valuable if you are not an Android dev. This book provides all the details to understand how the Compose compiler & runtime work, and how to create a client library using them.
- #2
Functional Programming Made Easier
Charles ScalfaniA Functional Programming book from beginner to advanced without skipping a single step along the way.
In my 40 years of programming, I've felt that programming books always let me down, especially Functional Programming books. So, I wrote the book I wish I had 5 years ago.
Functional Programming will never be easy, but it can be easier.
- #3
Stratospheric
Tom Hombergs, Björn Wilmsmann, and Philip RiecksFrom Zero to Production with Spring Boot and AWS. All you need to know to get a Spring Boot application into production with AWS. No previous AWS knowledge required.
- #4
Thinking with Types
Sandy MaguireThis book aims to be the comprehensive manual for type-level programming. It's about getting you from here to there---from a competent Haskell programmer to one who convinces the compiler to do their work for them.
- #5
A Practical Guide to Testing in DevOps Japanese Edition
Katrina Clokie, Yuya Kazama, and Masanori KawaradaKatrina Clokieによる2017年8月発行の書籍『A Practical Guide to Testing in DevOps』の日本語翻訳版です。実装前や実装中でのテストだけでなく、本番環境でのテストについて、数多くの事例を用いて語られています。
- #6
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #7
Continuous Delivery Pipelines
Dave FarleyThis practical handbook provides a step-by-step guide for you to get the best continuous delivery pipeline for your software.
- #8
Practical FP in Scala: A hands-on approach
Gabriel VolpeA practical book aimed for those familiar with functional programming in Scala who are yet not confident about architecting an application from scratch.
Together, we will develop a purely functional application using the best libraries in the Cats ecosystem, while learning about design patterns and best practices.
- #9
Algebra-Driven Design
Sandy MaguireA how-to field guide on building leak-free abstractions and algebraically designing real-world applications.
- #10
The Python Journeyman
Robert Smallshire, Austin Bingham, and Sixty NorthOne of Python's strengths is that it's approachable and easy to learn, so that almost anyone can learn to write a basic Python program. The Python Journeyman will take you beyond that, beyond the basics. We will lead you through some of the deeper aspects of Python, and give you the skills you need to write great Python programs.
Top Bundles
- #1
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #2
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #4
Retromat eBook Bundle for Agile Retrospectives
2 Books
If you facilitate retrospectives this bundle is for you: "Plans for Retrospectives" helps beginners learn the lay of the land with tried-and-true plans. Once you know your way around, "Run great agile retrospectives" contains all 135+ activities in Retromat for you to mix and match. - #6
9 Books-Bundle: Shut Up and Code!
9 Books
"Shut up and code." Laughter in the audience. The hacker had just plugged in his notebook and started sharing his screen to present his super-smart Python script. "Shut up and code" The letters written in a white literal coding font on black background was the hackers' home screen background mantra. At the time, I was a first-year computer... - #8
The Python Craftsman
3 Books
The Python Craftsman series comprises The Python Apprentice, The Python Journeyman, and The Python Master. The first book is primarily suitable for for programmers with some experience of programming in another language. If you don't have any experience with programming this book may be a bit daunting. You'll be learning not just a programming...
