Problems Missed When Only Testing APIs Through UI

UI testing is an important part of quality assurance. Specifically, UI testing refers to the practice of testing front-end components to make sure that they do what they’re supposed to. If a user clicks the Login button, the login modal appears. If they click a link, they’re brought to the appropriate part of the application. With automation platforms, these individual tests can be linked together into workflows and automated. Business-driven development style tests can be created in this fashion. The UI can be tested to see that each individual path that a user may take is functional and that the interface is responding appropriately. Other platforms exist that allow these workflows to be tested on simulated resolutions and devices, ensuring that the user experience is consistent across all possible combinations of browser and device.

API testing lives a layer below UI testing. The UI is fed by these APIs and renders the DOM based upon conditions set by both the user and the developer. These conditions determine the sort of API call that’s made to populate the viewport. When we’re UI Testing, it could be argued that we are indirectly testing the API layer. It’s actually pretty fair to say so. Many of the actions that our UI platform will take will issue API calls. If the DOM rerenders correctly, we can assume to an extent that the API call was successful. The dangerous ground here is the assumption.

Source de l’article sur DZONE