Find out why load and stress testing are now necessary parts of the software development process.
The discussion of load testing versus stress testing has been on the lips of both software developers and some non-techies alike. As a result, a lot of information is flying around about what both software testing techniques represent, but not many people understand the main differences in the testing methods.
Both load and stress testing are techniques that help determine software performance under certain conditions. Although the testing methods are similar, there are still differences between the two. Below is a comprehensive overview of the differences between load and stress testing and how they are essential for achieving a high level of software performance.
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What is load testing?
Load testing is a software technique used to assess the performance of a system when subjected to different load layers.
For example, the load test procedure can be used to test resource utilization and response times when using software. With load testing, software developers can now easily detect and fix problems with load-induced downtime before launching their products.
What is stress testing?
Stress testing evaluates whether software performs satisfactorily under adverse or extreme conditions, such as high network traffic, many processes running, under- or overclocked hardware, and requests for maximum resource utilization.
Stress testing also determines a system’s failure and recovery points when placed outside of specified limits. Some issues that can be detected in a system during stress tests include sync issues and memory leaks.
What are the main differences between load tests and stress tests?
| Load testing | Stress testing |
|---|---|
| Load testing checks how the app performs when the load increases. | Stress testing ensures that the servers do not crash for a long time under an unexpectedly high load. |
| Load tests can be used to determine the upper limit of the system. | Stress tests can be used to examine how the system reacts to heavy loads and how it bounces back after a failure. |
| The key attributes checked in load testing are server quality, response time, and peak performance. | The most important feature checked in stress testing is the response time for stability and the reliability of the system in the event of a disaster. |
| The load limit is a threshold for an interruption in the load testing. | The load limit is above the threshold of a stress test break. |
Benefits of Load Testing
Determines performance issues before the product goes live
Load testing helps developers better understand how an increase in user volume affects system performance. Load testing gives companies the opportunity to improve the user experience before the product is released by detecting performance issues.
Determines the productivity of the system
Load testing helps software developers know the peak points of their software products when setting user capacity and optimization goals for their software.
Improves scalability
Companies can map out a good scalability plan during load testing. This is because load testing can help determine when software is ready to scale and when not.
Increases customer satisfaction
Load testing provides insights that help optimize the user experience of software before it reaches end users. This is crucial because user experience is a factor that can hinder the adoption of the software.
Minimizes failure costs
When software fails after launch, it reduces users’ trust in the product. Fortunately, the cost of rebuilding this trust through software improvements can be reduced or avoided altogether if organizations put their software through load tests before launch.
Ensures the system meets performance benchmarks
Product managers in business organizations often specify the requirements for the software product they want to launch. Load testing makes it possible to take the necessary measures to ensure that those benchmarks are met.
Benefits of stress testing
There are many reasons to put applications to a stress test. If a team removes stress tests from software development, they can expose their application to damage such as data breaches, loss and security attacks. Below are specific reasons for stress testing applications.
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Prepares teams for extreme situations
Stress tests let teams know which failure points are likely to occur and are most damaging to the software. This knowledge is crucial for planning what to do if the software encounters such a situation.
Helps maintain project stability
When stress tests are performed correctly, the team provides information and early warning indicators that help identify most failures and protect the system from them. After stress testing, developers can better defend software against scripts, bots and DOS attacks.
In addition, stress testing helps identify system weaknesses and improve system security before the product is launched.
Helps map out alternative plans
Stress testing sessions focus on finding various issues such as deadlocks, concurrency issues, data incoherence, race attacks, and sync bottlenecks. In addition, stress test data can drive contingency and scalability plans.
Reveals how the system recovers under stress
Quality stress testing provides a detailed picture of system performance due to overload. The stats below help testers determine the potential damage a system shutdown can cause:
- Processing Capacity
- Disk usage
- internet use
- wire distribution
- Successful/Failed Transactions
- deadlocks
