Special considerations regarding SOA test

Performance will need to be verified

  • XML messages are parsed in the SOAP calls. This action demands some performance from the system.
  • Often, many systems will call the same central services. Those run the risk of being bottlenecks.

Error Handling

Many types of errors and errormessages may occur and need to be handled by the system. Both errors from the system itself hosting the web service and the underlying systems.

Dependencies
Web services are often dependent on other systems. Therefore, among other things, a good control of test environment is necessary.


Complexity

A seemingly simple Web service might contain much logic and dependencies of many subsystems. This means that many test cases need to be performed.

Organizational problems

Web services are using other systems that are not always owned by the organization. This means that establishing a good test environment can be a challenge.

 

Time Shifts

As many systems are involved, it can be much discussion about what access you have to systems, what to do with bugs found in the underlying systems, etc.. So there is great risk that the time plan will not hold.

Need for test stumps

In cases where there is no access to the testing environment for web services (eg when they are not owned and controlled by the project) test stubs need to be developed.

Need for test tools

Web services are consumed by applications and not by people. Working with XML messages will be difficult without the help of test tools.