Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs

Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs

Nowadays, REpresentational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces (REST APIs) are widely used in web applications, hence a plethora of test cases are developed to validate the APIs calls. We propose a solution that automates the generation of test cases for REST APIs based on their specif...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ovidiu Baniaș, Diana Florea, Robert Gyalai, Daniel-Ioan Curiac
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
software testing
specification-based testing
automatic test case generation
REST API
OpenAPI 3.x
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/16/5375
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spelling doaj-cac5e63776ab4687b76f26d6f900a6212021-08-26T14:18:51ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-08-01215375537510.3390/s21165375Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIsOvidiu Baniaș0Diana Florea1Robert Gyalai2Daniel-Ioan Curiac3Automation and Applied Informatics Department, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Parvan 2, 300223 Timisoara, RomaniaAutomation and Applied Informatics Department, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Parvan 2, 300223 Timisoara, RomaniaAutomation and Applied Informatics Department, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Parvan 2, 300223 Timisoara, RomaniaAutomation and Applied Informatics Department, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Parvan 2, 300223 Timisoara, RomaniaNowadays, REpresentational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces (REST APIs) are widely used in web applications, hence a plethora of test cases are developed to validate the APIs calls. We propose a solution that automates the generation of test cases for REST APIs based on their specifications. In our approach, apart from the automatic generation of test cases, we provide an option for the user to influence the test case generation process. By adding user interaction, we aim to augment the automatic generation of APIs test cases with human testing expertise and specific context. We use the latest version of OpenAPI 3.x and a wide range of coverage metrics to analyze the functionality and performance of the generated test cases, and non-functional metrics to analyze the performance of the APIs. The experiments proved the effectiveness and practicability of our method.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/16/5375software testingspecification-based testingautomatic test case generationREST APIOpenAPI 3.x
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ovidiu Baniaș
Diana Florea
Robert Gyalai
Daniel-Ioan Curiac
spellingShingle Ovidiu Baniaș
Diana Florea
Robert Gyalai
Daniel-Ioan Curiac
Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
Sensors
software testing
specification-based testing
automatic test case generation
REST API
OpenAPI 3.x
author_facet Ovidiu Baniaș
Diana Florea
Robert Gyalai
Daniel-Ioan Curiac
author_sort Ovidiu Baniaș
title Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
title_short Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
title_full Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
title_fullStr Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
title_full_unstemmed Automated Specification-Based Testing of REST APIs
title_sort automated specification-based testing of rest apis
publisher MDPI AG
series Sensors
issn 1424-8220
publishDate 2021-08-01
description Nowadays, REpresentational State Transfer Application Programming Interfaces (REST APIs) are widely used in web applications, hence a plethora of test cases are developed to validate the APIs calls. We propose a solution that automates the generation of test cases for REST APIs based on their specifications. In our approach, apart from the automatic generation of test cases, we provide an option for the user to influence the test case generation process. By adding user interaction, we aim to augment the automatic generation of APIs test cases with human testing expertise and specific context. We use the latest version of OpenAPI 3.x and a wide range of coverage metrics to analyze the functionality and performance of the generated test cases, and non-functional metrics to analyze the performance of the APIs. The experiments proved the effectiveness and practicability of our method.
topic software testing
specification-based testing
automatic test case generation
REST API
OpenAPI 3.x
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/16/5375
work_keys_str_mv AT ovidiubanias automatedspecificationbasedtestingofrestapis
AT dianaflorea automatedspecificationbasedtestingofrestapis
AT robertgyalai automatedspecificationbasedtestingofrestapis
AT danielioancuriac automatedspecificationbasedtestingofrestapis
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