Chapter 12. Server-Side Testing
Why Read This Chapter?
Somewhere behind all of the user interfaces that make up a Web application is a server or, more likely, many servers. The server is the brain of the client-server system. Testing the server directly is challenging because you can no longer take advantage of the client interface. Server applications and components talk to each other, as well as to the operating system's services such as file system services, via an application interface or Application Programming Interface (API). Unlike the UI, this interface is not intuitive to use for an end user. Therefore, testing these interfaces often requires a test harness or driver to be built, or the use of scripts or programs to execute your tests. This chapter shows ways to bypass the normal user interfaces and directly test the server's software.
Introduction
Many software services and much processing in a Web application happen on the server-side rather than on the client-side. The server software, isolated from the standard user interfaces, often resides on server computers in remote locations. This means that software you test—whether it's a Web server, application server, database server, or back-office system—is difficult to exercise fully via the UI. The UI ...
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