What is Performance Testing?
What is performance testing? That seems like a silly question, doesn't it? I mean, we've all seen definitions for performance testing. We've conducted performance tests -- or been on projects where performance testing is conducted. But what is it really? And why is it that even when there seems to be obvious confusion about what performance testing is and is not, people seem hesitant to step back and ask What do you mean when you refer to performance testing?
I introduced the author of the paragraph above, Scott Barber, in my recent post here about Performance Engineering. The full article, What is Performance Testing?, contains some interesting observations.
Learning what you know
Scott describes what happens when you sit down to write:
What is Performance Testing?
While I was working on some new training material the other day, I typed exactly this question on the top of the first content slide for what is to become a course [Performance Testing, Fundamentals] for the UC Santa Cruz Extension. I figured this was a nice easy place to start, to ensure the class started out with a common foundation. After about half an hour of typing and deleting information on that slide, it dawned on me that this really isn't such an easy place to start after all.
Isn't that the truth! I have always found that the best way to force myself to learn anything thoroughly is to promise to write a paper about it -- or even better, to teach a class. This is a different form of performance wisdom from the kind I usually write about. And with the recent growth in blogging and podcasting, I've noticed that some writers and presenters don't seem to have learned this lesson. I wonder if they actually took the time to work through all those difficult details before sharing their thoughts.
This seems to be especially true of staff that companies sometimes recruit to give Webinars. I picture some poor soul being dragged away from their job in engineering or customer support and stuck in front of a microphone, because they are supposed to be more "technical" than the person in marketing. And maybe they really do know more facts, more details, more answers. But far too often, the result comes across as ...
... a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
-- William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act V, sc. v
But ...
But there are always exceptions. Recently I've been researching the world of Web performance testing, and the more I read of Scott Barber's writing, the more I find to recommend. I'll be adding Scott's Blog to my blogroll later this evening.
Check it out!
Update: I know didn't actually answer the question in the title of this post. For that, read Scott's TechTarget article. Also, see my next post for information about a much more detailed Guide to Performance Testing for Web Applications.
Tags: performance engineering, Scott Barber, Scott's Blog, IBM, testing, software testing, Shakespeare, Macbeth, teaching, writing, UCSC, UC Santa Cruz, performance wisdom
Chris Loosley
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Another update:
In Understanding performance, load and stress testing, a June 4, 2007 article on TechTarget, Scott answers these questions:
1. What are performance, load and stress testing? Could you please explain it with examples?
2. What are the prerequisites for performance, load and stress testing?
3. Do we write separate test plans and test cases for performance, load and stress testing? If yes, where would I get those templates?
Some of his answers may surprise you. The contain insights about the differences between performance testing funtional testing.
You are right about Scott Barber. I first heard his name years ago and have been viewing his writings from time to time. Recently, I have read his guide titled "Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications". I learnt many new things from this guide.