API term related to be one of the fastest growing segments nowadays. And it’s really hard to imagine Internet without API, moreover the whole digital industry wouldn’t work as well as it does. So, an Application Programming Interface enables two or more pieces of software to talk to each other. And probably, one of the most important its feature is that it deals with any common programming language. But not everything is so simple in good API development.
Whereas, if you are willing to be successful in API sphere, you can’t just gather single pieces of code and ship them out to the digital world. You have to dedicate much time and forces into every step of API design - from development to testing, from testing to post production monitoring. And nowadays, e-market offers many approaches and solutions in order to simplify this task. Let’s take in-depth look at major ones that we find to be extremely useful and beneficial.
API Testing
The most popular approach for API testing is unit test development. They are programmed for testing separate parts of code, called units and are released into the repository with the tested code. While creating unit API tests considered to be useful to design them into individual suites. Thus, building structure into logicаl blocks will enable them to be flexible. You don’t have to test the whole code when it appears to fix only one bug in some areas. The matter is that you are able to choose the only test you need from the dozens in the suites.
API Monitoring
Another necessity is post production API monitoring. It’s very useful feature to provide end customer with daily qualified analysis. Designing API monitor is familiar to designing API tests. However, the main idea is to perform and maximize API effectiveness and to keep an eye on how fast it responds. In other words, API should be tested, for instance, every 10 minutes by calling a single API operation. If everything goes fine for this step then the whole system works well.
API Tools
Nowadays, there are dozens of tools that make API testing and monitoring simpler and more effective. Here is only a shortlist of the most popular solutions including SmartBear, Runscope, TheRightAPI and others. They are all designed for API testing and monitoring. However, one question is flying in the air - which one to choose. However, the answer is very simple - it’s the matter of the programmer’s taste. Everyone has their own preferences and requirements. So, it’s better for you to test these tools and choose the one you find the most useful and effective.
API2Cart always tries to meet users’ needs and provides them with high-quality products. So, our Dev Team makes a lot of effort on every API lifecycle. We’ve developed thousands of unit tests and organized them into suites. Also, API2Cart uses Runscope for API monitoring as well as testing on a daily basis in order to provide simplicity and convenience of API usage.
If you have any questions regarding API2Cart and how it can help to build a competitive advantage for your eCommerce SaaS business and integrate it with multiple shopping platforms via unified API, feel free to contact us right now.
