The Art of Application Performance Testing, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9. Application Technology and Its Impact on Performance Testing

IDIC: infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

Mr. Spock, Star Trek (1968)

As mentioned in the Preface, the purpose of this book is to provide a practical guide to application performance testing. The processes and practices described are intended to be generic; however, there are situations where the application tech stack may create additional challenges. It therefore seems appropriate to offer some guidance on how different technologies may alter your approach to performance testing. I’ll try to cover all the important technologies that I’ve encountered over many years of performance testing projects, as well as some of the newer offerings that have emerged alongside NET.

Asynchronous Java and XML (AJAX)

This is not the Greek hero of antiquity, but rather a technology designed to make things better for the poor end users. The key word here is asynchronous, which refers to breaking the mold of traditional synchronous behavior where I do something and then I have to wait for you to respond before I can continue. Making use of AJAX in your application design removes this potential logjam and can lead to a great end-user experience. The crux of the problem is that automated test tools are by default designed to work in synchronous fashion. Traditional applications make a request and then wait for the server to respond.

In the AJAX world, a client can make a request, the server responds that it has received ...