Understanding the Importance of Software Performance Testing and its Types
                     UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF 
SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE TESTING AND 
ITS TYPES
WHAT IS PERFORMANCE TESTING? 
Software Performance testing is testing conducted to define the performance of the system 
test and verify the quality characteristics of the system like responsiveness, Speed, Scalability, 
Stability under varied load conditions. The system is examined under blended load conditions 
and check the time expected by responding by the system under fluctuating workloads.
WHY DO PERFORMANCE TESTING?
        
Before introducing software to the market, the software system should be examined against 
the Speed, Stability and scalability under different load conditions. Performance testing 
comprises a variety of tests which allow an analysis of multiple aspects of the system. 
Performance testing tells about what is required to fix before going live.
PERFORMANCE TEST TYPE    
SINGLE USER    
Performance testing life cycle is carried during the script design stage. For example, in the 
case of web applications, tools like YSlow, HttpAnalyzer etc. are used for examining the 
performance of the application.
CONTENTION
It is carried during the script design stage of the performance testing life cycle.
LIGHT LOAD
It is carried as a smoke test during the performance testing life cycle
LOAD
It is usually conducted at the very first performance run during the performance testing life 
cycle.
STRESS / VOLUME
It is conducted if required during the performance testing lifecycle.
RESILIENCE
It is conducted if required during the performance testing lifecycle.
FAILURE
It is conducted if needed during the performance testing lifecycle. It might need multiple 
cycles of a run for concluding anything.
RECOVERY
It is conducted if needed during the performance testing lifecycle.
SPIKE
It is conducted if needed during the performance testing lifecycle
SOAK 
It is performed as the last run during the Performance Testing Lifecycle.
1) PERFORMANCE TESTING PROCESS
Identifying the testing environment. Do individual requirement analysis regarding testing 
purposes and its goals. Also, define the testing scope along with test Introduction Checklist. 
Recognize the logical and physical production planning for performance testing, distinguish 
the software, hardware and networks configurations needed to execute performance 
testing. 
2) RECOGNIZE THE PERFORMANCE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
Recognize the desired performance characteristics of the application like Response time, 
Throughput and Resource Utilization.
3) PLAN & DESIGN PERFORMANCE TESTS 
Planning and creating performance tests include classifying critical usage situations, 
discovering relevant variability across users, classifying and creating test data, and 
specifying the metrics to be collected. Ultimately, these items will provide the basis for 
workloads and workload profiles. 
4) CONFIGURING THE TEST ENVIRONMENT
Plan with a conceptual approach, open tools, designed tests along with testing environment 
before the performance. The output of this stage is set load-generation environment and 
resource-monitoring tools.
5) EXECUTE THE TESTS
Create the Performance study reports containing all performance characteristics of the 
application. Based on the analysis, prepare a proposal report.
7) ANALYZE RESULTS, REPORT, AND RETEST
Based on the test report re-prioritize the test & re-execute the same. If any specific test 
result within the defined metric limit & all results are within the thresholds limits, then 
testing of the same situation on appropriate configuration is finished.
CONCLUSION
For the success of the Software system, Performance testing plays a vital role in software 
testing life cycle.