The given literature review will primarily focus on the topic of web application performance tool or WAPT, which is utilized to test web-based interfaces and related applications. The primary use of WAPT is to analyze the web tools’ performance capabilities and metrics, such as stress and load. WAPT mostly targets web interfaces, web servers, web APIs, and general websites (Kar & Corcoran, 2019). It is stated that “web applications are defined as the applications that use a Web browser to fulfill the requirements of users and are written in browser compatible programming languages (such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS)” (Jailia et al., 2018, p. 239). The current literature comprehensively focuses on specific WARP categories, such as the web application performance evaluation tool GazeVisual, which operates by conducting visual, statistical, and quantitative analyses of web interfaces (Kar & Corcoran, 2019). Therefore, web applications require systematic testing to track their performance fluctuation to reciprocally adjust the procedural systems.
Firstly, it should be noted that load testing is the determination or collection of performance indicators and response time of a software and hardware system or device in response to an external request to establish compliance with the requirements for this system. According to the current literature, load testing is usually done to evaluate the behavior of an application under a given expected load (Jailia et al., 2018). This load can be, for example, the expected number of concurrent users of the application, and in the case of monitoring systems, this is the number of people connected to the system making a given number of transactions in a time interval.
Secondly, stability testing is done to ensure that the application can withstand the expected load for a long time. According to the literature, it is stated that “the tests also demonstrate how the GazeVisual software can quantitatively show the difference in the quality of gaze data from the different consumer eye trackers, operating on different platforms, e.g., desktop, tablet, and head-mounted setups” (Kar & Corcoran, 2019, p. 298). This type of testing monitors an application’s memory consumption to identify potential leaks. In addition, such testing reveals degradation of performance, which is expressed in a decrease in the speed of information processing and an increase in the response time of the application after a long time compared to the beginning of the test.
Thirdly, stress testing is performed to assess the reliability and resilience of the system when the limits of normal operation are exceeded. This type of testing is performed to determine the reliability of the system during extreme or disproportionate loads and answers questions about the sufficient performance of the system if the current load greatly exceeds the expected maximum. Typically, stress testing is better at detecting persistence, availability, and exception handling by the system under heavy load than what is considered correct behavior under normal conditions.
Fourthly, configuration testing is performed to test the performance not of the system in terms of the applied load but terms of the performance impact of configuration changes. Following the recent literature, it is stated that “it helps faster deployment of Web applications, and applications are more efficient in usage” (Jailia et al., 2018, p. 242). An example of such testing would be experimenting with different load balancing techniques. Configuration testing can also be combined with load testing, stress testing, or stability testing.
References
Jailia, M., Agarwal, M., & Kumar, A. (2018). Comparative study of N-tier and cloud-based web application using automated load testing tool.Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 625, 239–250. Web.
Kar, A., & Corcoran, P. (2019). GazeVisual -a practical software tool and web application for performance evaluation of eye tracking systems.IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 65(3), 293–302. Web.