The quality of any application is determined by the robustness and scalability of the system. It's mandatory to simulate the actual environment and test the application for preparedness. Web Services-savvy applications need a different methodology for testing in a real-world scenario. The UI-less nature of Web Services presents a significant challenge in testing such applications. The whole persona of consumer stubs with different payloads dictates the planning of Web Services load-testing schemes. This paper talks about the different aspects of load testing and areas of contention that need special attention. This will be helpful in not only building a better application but also compiling a robust, high-quality enterprise architecture.
Web Services are the natural delivery mechanism to achieve SOA. While having the potential to free enterprises from the endless cycle of vendor-specific hardware/software upgrades by ensuring interoperability, they bring in integration complexities and the overhead of maintaining compatibility with the underlying EIS applications/systems. This brings in an absolutely different perspective to testing Web Services.
