Fun Fact: Did you know that Postman, the beloved API testing and development tool, is a staple for developers worldwide? In fact, a whopping 84% of developers rely on Postman to streamline their API workflow. It's like the Swiss Army knife for API enthusiasts, offering a plethora of features and functionalities.
But here's the catch—while most developers turn to Postman, many only scratch the surface, using just about 5% of its full potential. It's like owning a sports car and never taking it out of first gear.
Fear not, for in this blog post, we're going to unveil the secret sauce of Postman, those hidden gems that can transform your API testing and development game. Whether you're a seasoned Postman user or just getting started, we'll get to see how to harness the power of Postman's lesser-known features to supercharge your API testing and development.
Say goodbye to the limitations of the 5% club and join the elite ranks of developers who know how to unlock the full potential of Postman!
1) Automate Test scripts with Postbot
Most people use Postman for sending requests and checking responses. But did you know you can automate testing scripts?
These scripts can validate responses, visualize your response, and perform complex operations.
Tip: Ensure that you have a response before engaging Postbot
2) Automated API Monitors
Postman monitors continuously check the health and performance of your APIs and alert you when a test fails.
You can schedule it also to run API tests and send you a daily report on things like;
✔️Security vulnerabilities
✔️ API Performance trends
✔️ Ensuring your API is working in multiple regions of your choice
✔️ Ensuring API is working in different environments like production or staging as expected
3)Mastering Environments
Environments for Postman aren't just for managing variables. You can create different environments for the development, testing and production servers.
This will help you define variables, base URLs and configurations for each and avoid accidental mix-ups.
Once this is set, you can switch between environments easily when testing by selecting the desired environment from the dropdown menu.
4)API Documentation
After you have finished building those beautiful APIs, the next best thing to do is document it. This helps in providing context for who the API is meant for, how best to use it and how it can help your customers/team achieve their goals.
Postman helps to automatically create documentation based on your API definition.
This will include things like;
Request and Response Body
Headers
Required attributes
Sample Code
HTTP methods
To know more you can follow the steps outlined here
5)Automation with Newman
Newman is Postman's command-line companion that automates your tests to run each time there is a code change. This is achieved by integrating Newman into your CI/CD pipeline.
Tip: Store your Newman command in a script file to make execution more convenient and maintainable
6)Postman Collaborative Environments
If you're working in a team, Postman's got your back. You can collaborate seamlessly within teams of developers and testers.
Some of the advantages of Postman teams include;
Access controls and permission management for team members
Consistent API configuration and data
Integration with version control tools like GitHub
Provides Real-time collaboration
Related Projects can be grouped into workspaces for easier management and navigation
Postman teams promote knowledge sharing and skill development.
7)Security Testing
You can use Postman to send various types of malicious input to your API.
For example, you can send SQL injection payloads to your API endpoints and observe how your API handles these inputs, analyze responses and identify security vulnerabilities.
Regularly perform security tests, penetration testing and vulnerability scans, especially when you introduce changes to your API to ensure ongoing security.
8)Mock Servers
Need to simulate API responses during development and testing? Mock servers are here just for that.
They work by enabling parallel development and testing efforts. You can create a mock server from scratch, from a collection or from your history
When you send a request to a mock server, Postman matches the request to a saved example in your collection and then responds with the data from that request.
You can also update the mock server responses to mimic different scenarios or edge cases for comprehensive testing.
9)Collection Runners
The collection runner is used to load-test your API performance under various scenarios.
You can add multiple iterations and data files to your collection to get the best results. Other settings include delay and timeout request settings and you can vary inputs.
Example: Load test your login endpoint with 100 simultaneous users and analyze response times. Start with a small number of iterations and users, then gradually increase to avoid overwhelming the server.
Once the report is generated you can analyze performance metrics and response times and adjust accordingly
10)Postman Flows
Incorporating Postman flows extends your capacities for automation, documentation and streamlining complex API processes.
It empowers your team to work more efficiently and effectively, especially when dealing with multi-step, repetitive or intricate API workflows.
Flows also help reduce the risk of errors when dealing with intricate tasks such as multi-step testing scenarios as it includes error-handling logic.
If you want to save on time, Flows is the way to go as it enables you to create reusable logic blocks that can be shared across multiple requests and collections.
Conclusion
The world of API testing is ever evolving and technology as a whole never stands still. Postman with its myriad features and capabilities, is always adapting to this ever-changing environment.
The key to mastery is to commit to continuous learning and remaining curious about API best practices.
Remember the more you explore and experiment, the more you'll uncover the endless possibilities within Postman.
Happy Postman-ing!!