How do you test APIs that are not yet available in web applications?

Testing APIs that are not yet available in web applications is a common challenge for web developers and testers. APIs, or application programming interfaces, are the building blocks of web applications that enable communication and data exchange between different components and services. Testing APIs is essential to ensure they meet user and client requirements and expectations. However, testing APIs that are not yet available can be difficult; for example, how do you simulate the behavior and responses of the APIs that are missing or incomplete? How do you handle the dependencies and interactions between the APIs and the web application? And how do you ensure the tests are reliable, consistent, and maintainable? In this article, we will discuss some of the best practices and tools to help test APIs that are not yet available in web applications. We will cover topics such as how to simulate API behavior, handle dependencies, and ensure reliable tests.

1 Mocking APIs

Mocking APIs is a technique that allows you to create simulated versions of APIs that are not yet available. This can help you test the web application without relying on the actual APIs or their endpoints. By using mocking tools to define the expected inputs, outputs, and behaviors of APIs, you can use them as placeholders in your tests. Mocking APIs can be beneficial in testing the web application in isolation from external dependencies and services, validating the functionality and logic based on mock data and responses, accelerating the development and testing process, and detecting and fixing errors and bugs before integrating with the real APIs. Popular tools for mocking APIs include Postman, WireMock, Mockoon, and MockServer.

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Pankaj Garg

Senior Software Engineer @ MakeMyTrip
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While using JUnit or Mockito, you can directly call the methods which handles business logic of the API and pass in parameters and test for the API which are yet to have an API endpoint, using pre build tools of Spring Boot will get the work done as well, other way although not recommended you can directly call the methods in the main class by making methods static and get the response.

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Moaaz Adel

Senior QA Engineer | Test Automation Expert | Performance Testing Specialist | Driving Quality in High-Scale Applications | AI Enthusiast
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Mocking: Simulate API behavior with mock responses using tools like WireMock or Postman's mocking feature. Contract Testing: Define expected API behaviors with a contract (e.g., OpenAPI). Both frontend and backend teams can ensure their systems align with this contract. Stubbing: Create simplified versions of available API endpoints (stubs) to test integration with your application. Integration Testing: Once APIs are available, verify correct interaction and handling of various scenarios. Continuous Communication: Maintain regular updates between frontend and backend teams to stay aligned on API progress and changes.

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Javier Andrés Pedrozo Payares
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Postman es una gran herramienta al momento de probar APIs, incluso cuando se deben simular. Esto se logra a través de la creación de mock servers, simulación de respuestas de error. De igual forma, algunos servicios permiten hacer peticiones en ambientes sandbox, en los cuales se pueden simular respuestas del api.

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2 Contract Testing

Contract testing is a technique that allows you to verify that the web application and the APIs follow a predefined set of rules or specifications. This technique can help test the compatibility and consistency of the two, and make sure they meet each other's expectations. Contract testing tools can be used to define the contract between the web application and the APIs, and generate and run tests against both sides. The benefits of contract testing include testing integration and communication between the two, validating request and response structure, format, and content, detecting and preventing breaking changes, and facilitating collaboration between the web application and API teams. Popular tools for contract testing include Pact, Dredd, Spring Cloud Contract, and Accurest.

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🟢 Sáad A.

Freelance Threejs Creative Developer | 3D Landing Page, Configurator, Virtual Tour & More
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This is a great way to test integration between your app and api endpoints. It helps uncover potential issues in the format and validity of inputs and expected outputs.

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3 Stubbing APIs

Stubbing APIs is a technique that enables the creation of simplified or partial versions of APIs that are not yet available. This can help test the web application without requiring full functionality or implementation of the APIs. You can utilize stubbing tools to define the minimal inputs, outputs, and behaviors of the APIs, and then use them as substitutes in your tests. Stubbing APIs can be beneficial for testing the web application in scenarios where the APIs are not accessible or reliable, validating performance and scalability under different loads and conditions, simulating errors and failures of the APIs to test resilience and recovery, as well as optimizing testing resources and costs by reducing dependency on real APIs. Popular tools for stubbing APIs include Mountebank, Stubby, Sinon, and Nock.

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Yogesh Harke

Software Engineer | LinkedIn Top Voice | Skilled Back-End Developer | Focused on web applications | Proficient in PHP, Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript & Rest API | Passionate about clean code and user-centric solutions.
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Testing APIs not yet available in web apps often involves creating mock servers or stubs that mimic expected API responses. Developers can then test the app's interaction with the API without the actual implementation. API testing tools like Postman, SoapUI, or Insomnia enable sending requests directly to endpoints and inspecting responses. Unit tests or integration tests for the API client code, and mocking responses, also ensure proper handling of different API scenarios.

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4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you test APIs that are not yet available in web applications?

1

2

3

4

1 Mocking APIs

2 Contract Testing

3 Stubbing APIs

4 Here’s what else to consider

Web Applications

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How do you test APIs that are not yet available in web applications?

1

2

3

4

1 Mocking APIs

2 Contract Testing

3 Stubbing APIs

4 Here’s what else to consider

Web Applications

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