APIs have become an essential foundation to drive modern applications. Mobile apps now use standard interfaces to integrate with back-end systems and IoT devices talk to each other as well as third-party applications - all through APIs.
API vulnerabilities are potentially devastating. The programming interfaces at the heart of our internet-connected world shuttle data blindly, dependent entirely on the coding and testing standards that went into their development. The safety and security of your users’ data—and, therefore, your own reputation and brand quality—rest solely on the resources you put into testing the application.
It is a high-stakes issue, one that has compromised and embarrassed some of the biggest companies in the world.
“I want it all, and I want it now.”
Isn’t that the sentiment you most want to express when you assess your release cycle? After all, you’re just craving quality and speed. One of the biggest benefits of automated API test integration is that you get a quality product quickly. It also lets you stay focused on meeting your own standards for quality, functionality, reliability, performance, and security.
Just how quickly you’ll see those benefits depends on choosing the right partner. But the speed advantage means faster bug fixes and faster time to market for your product. Let’s look at some of the other ways it can help keep your product on schedule and within budget.
APIs, or Application Program Interfaces, have become an integral way of connecting people, their devices, and the information they need. They allow different applications to interact with one another and transfer data back and forth—they’re the main vein for app integrations and single sign-on functionality, and are essential to the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT).
There are plenty of benefits and advantages to API testing, but the high-level ones that matter most to engineering teams and the larger business are improved test cycle coverage, better Agile processes between dev and QA teams, huge time savings, and the ability to test the application in any core language.
In this era of AI, machine learning and IoT, APIs are playing a crucial role in enabling these complex technologies provide intelligent and seamless user experience. APIs are emerging at a rapid pace. The current metrics show a market of 20 billion connected devices around the world, and this number is forecast to grow more than 50 billion by 2020. All these devices are connected through APIs, which makes it a raw material for the connected world.
Many leading web applications are moving their web experience toward APIs because the independence and modularity of APIs are helping to speed-up development processes and improve productivity in complex technologies. About a few years ago, the trend was mobile first, followed by web, and then came the APIs. Today, the trends have inclined towards APIs first, then mobile, and finally the web. This shift has driven us towards making API testing the theme of this newsletter for our readers.