Early Performance Testing

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Early Performance Testing

Early Performance Testing is a strategy used during the software development life cycle to identify performance problems at their inception. Early Performance Testing is an optional activity and is relevant to large-scale software development projects where applications or software systems are built over the course of several stages.

When to Start

Performance testing may be started early in the development process, even before a single module of any software system is complete. The period of software development when the application is being created is the ideal moment to begin the EPT. As a form of regression EPT for the first module in the second phase, the EPT test results, analysis, and recommendations from one phase are incorporated in the second phase. This cycle continues until the development of the entire application is complete.

Figure 01: When to start EPT?

Approach:

EPT does not significantly improve the value of a small-scale application or an application with a single business capability, as was already mentioned. For bigger applications when the entire software system is separated and built into modules or phases, you may actually profit from EPT. Combining the agile methodology with the early performance testing strategy will maximize its benefits. Agile approach, which sets short-term modular goals, solutions, and tracking, aids in the greatest potential utilization of the EPT. It aids in attaining performance testing goals and execution at the interface/component level, which is the lowest level achievable.

  • Initially, segment the application in the business module in accordance with the conclusion of the individual development stage.
  • Perform the performance test (EPT) on the finished feature or module once the development of the first phase is complete.
  • Use load and soak test NFRs to do the performance test. If a module is capable of handling the peak load or not, the load test EPT can assist. Soak Test EPT functions similarly in identifying memory leakage.
  • assemble the test results, and, if any, locate the bottleneck.
  • If any NFR is broken, the development team should be informed, and the code should be examined during the performance optimization process.
  • Retest the same module and confirm its performance with the other modules if the next phase is scheduled.
  • For each stage of software development, repeat the EPT cycle and check the module’s performance.

Performance Metrics for EPT

  • Response Time
  • Request Rate (Transaction Rate)
  • User Load
  • Volume (in case of batch test)

Because you are evaluating the specific module during EPT rather than the entire integrated system, server-side statistics can be parked. It is not worthwhile to evaluate the server performance of a single module since several functionality and code modules share resources on a single server. One crucial distinction, however, is that even in cases of poor performance and complete resource exploitation by a single module, server-side stats cannot be disregarded.

Benefits of Early Performance Testing

  • accelerate the performance testing itself
  • reduced performance bottlenecks being found during the real performance testing
  • Cost cutting
  • ensuring superior code performance from the beginning
  • Early participation from performance testers aids in developing a thorough understanding of the application from that of performance testing.
  • less work to do when delivering the project
  • The developer is given adequate time to fix the performance problems found during the preliminary performance testing.
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