Postman

Postman is one of the most popular software testing tools which is used for API testing. With the help of this tool, developers can easily create, test, share, and document APIs.

This tutorial will help in understanding why Postman is so famous and what makes it unique when compared to other API testing tools. All the examples in this tutorial are tested and can be imported in Postman.

Introduction to Postman

• Postman is a standalone software testing API (Application Programming Interface) platform to build, test, design, modify, and document APIs. It is a simple Graphic User Interface for sending and viewing HTTP requests and responses.
• While using Postman, for testing purposes, one doesn’t need to write any HTTP client network code. Instead, we build test suites called collections and let Postman interact with the API.
• In this tool, nearly any functionality that any developer may need is embedded. This tool has the ability to make various types of HTTP requests like GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and convert the API to code for languages like JavaScript and Python.

Terminologies Related to Postman

API

Application Programming Interface (API) is software that acts as an intermediary for two apps to communicate with each other. We use APIs whenever we use an application like Twitter, Facebook, sending text messages, or checking the weather over the phone.

HTTP

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the collection of rules for the transmission of data on the World Wide Web, like graphic images, text, video, sound, and other multimedia data. The Web users implicitly make use of HTTP as soon as they open their Web browser.

Example: A user or browser enters the HTTP request to the server; the server then returns the user response. This response includes the request status information and may consist of the requested material as well.

The most commonly used HTTP methods are GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, DELETE, and OPTIONS.

Why Use Postman?

With over 4 million users nowadays, Postman Software has become a tool of choice for the following reasons:

1. Accessibility – To use Postman tool, one would just need to log-in to their own accounts making it easy to access files anytime, anywhere as long as a Postman application is installed on the computer.
2. Use of Collections – Postman lets users create collections for their Postman API calls. Each collection can create subfolders and multiple requests. This helps in organizing your test suites.
3. Collaboration – Collections and environments can be imported or exported making it easy to share files. A direct link can also be used to share collections.
4. Creating Environments – Having multiple environments aids in less repetition of tests as one can use the same collection but for a different environment. This is where parameterization will take place which we will discuss in further lessons.
5. Creation of Tests – Test checkpoints such as verifying for successful HTTP response status can be added to each Postman API calls which help ensure test coverage
6. Automation Testing – Through the use of the Collection Runner or Newman, tests can be run in multiple iterations saving time for repetitive tests.
7. Debugging – Postman console helps to check what data has been retrieved making it easy to debug tests.
8. Continuous integration – With its ability to support continuous integration, development practices are maintained.