Understanding JMeter and Its Usage in Software Testing

Load testing helps enterprises to deploy software applications effectively, and eliminate chances of downtime and failure in future. But testers need to load test the application by emulating a large number of users and under various conditions to obtain its key performance indicators (KPIs). That is why, many professionals use load testing tools to obtain the software’s KPIs by easily emulating a large number of users simultaneously. As an open source load testing tool, JMeter helps testers to assess the performance of a variety of web applications without increasing project overheads. However, its features and functionality also make JMeter a widely used load testing tool.

Why Many Software Testers Prefer JMeter to Other Load Testing Tools?

Pure Java Application

Unlike other load testing tools, JMeter is designed as a pure Java desktop application. So the users can download zip file, and setup the open source tool in a straightforward way. Further, they have option to run the tool on various operating systems that support Java. As most platforms currently support Java, the load testing tool can be setup and run across major operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Assess both Static and Dynamic Resources

To evaluate the performance of a website effectively, testers need to assess all its resources. JMeter enables users to test both static and dynamic resources used by the software. They can use the tool to test various static resources including   HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Likewise, it can also be used for testing a variety of dynamic resources PHP, ASP.NET, Java Servlets, Java objects, CGI scripts, FTP servers and databases.

Perform both Load and Stress Tests

The testers can further use JMeter to perform both load tests and stress tests. They can assess the application’s performance under varying loads by simulating the number of users expected to access the website simultaneously. At the same time, JMeter also helps testers to determine the maximum load capacity of the web server. So they can easily identify when the web application will start responding to user request slowly or produce errors.

Supports Most Protocols and Servers

JMeter can also be used to load test and stress test a variety of applications as it supports most of the commonly used protocols and servers. At present, the load testing tools support HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, FTP, SOAP, REST, LDAP, SMPT, POP3 and IMAP. Likewise, it also supports databases through JDBC, NoSQL through MangoDB, and native commands and shell scripts. Thus, the testers can use a single tool to assess the performance of various modern websites and web applications. 

Pluggable Architecture

The architecture of JMeter is built based on plug-ins. Some of its commonly used features are implemented through plug-ins. So it becomes easier for testers to manipulate the testing tool through these plug-ins. Also, they can easily enhance its features and functionality by building custom plug-ins. 

Simple Option to Build Test Cases

Often QA professionals have to put additional time and effort for building effective test plans. But JMeter makes enables users to create test plans by following some simple steps.  For instance, the testers can create test plans for testing SOAP layers simply by mentioning the URLs and SOAP requests. They also have option to extend the basic test plans by incorporating parameters, variables, counters, logs, loops and CSV files. They can further refer to the comprehensive documentation posted on its website to manage and maintain the test scripts efficiently.

Generates Informative Test Reports

The programmers need informative test reports to fix the performance issues quickly. Likewise, clear and elaborate performance testing reports help managers to take a number of crucial decisions. JMeter enables testers to present the requests and response in text, HTML or XML format. Also, they can use the Aggregate Graph component of the tool to present the test results more clearly with graphs and statistics.  Also, they can take advantage of the Display Graph option to present the performance statistics through appealing graphs.

Despite being an open source load testing tool, JMeter is being updated at regular intervals. The most recent version of JMeter enables testers to determine the amount of time required by the software to establish connection with the sever using a new parameter called connect Time. Likewise, JMeter 2.13 allows users to customize both aggregate report and aggregate graph. These new features make JMeter score over other open source and commercial load testing tools available in the market.