Test Automation for APIs

An application programming interface (API) helps two systems interact with each other over the internet by implementing a set of definitions and protocols. APIs help tremendously to simplify the design of software systems and assist in opening up access to the system while maintaining control and security over calls being made. APIs primarily act as intermediaries between various parts of the application as well as with external integrations.

There are three main kinds of API architectures—namely, REST, RPC, and SOAP. Each one of them has its pros and cons. Diving deep into the types of APIs and their architectures is out of the scope of this book. Instead, we will be learning about testing Representational State Transfer (REST), which has been the most popular architecture for constructing APIs.

It is crucial to maintain the quality standards of APIs as they are often the point of entry for various external application calls. Therefore, API testing...