How To Test An API
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How To Test An API

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by Evelyn Addison — 1 year ago in Development 2 min. read
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Introduction

If you’re an engineer or a developer, chances are you’ve had to test an API at some point. Whether for a side project or a full-time gig, testing your application’s ability to send and receive data from other apps is essential to ensure everything works as intended. Luckily for us, there are several ways to do this to ensure you’re getting the most out of your application!

These are My Top Three Methods for Testing Out APIs

There are a lot of ways to test out an API, but these are my top three:

  • Postman. This Chrome extension allows you to create and send requests to an API without having to code up anything. It’s great for testing out how the API works and what responses you get from it.
  • Curl (or cURL). This is another command line tool that can be used with Postman if you need more advanced tools or features like authentication.
  • Code it up in Python, Ruby, or any other language that supports making HTTP requests with libraries like Requests or Net::HTTP.

The best way I’ve found so far is using some combination of all three methods—you get quick feedback from doing things manually through Postman while still being able to test out complex functionality through curl scripts when needed!

Also read: Apple CarPlay Not Working? Here’s 7 Troubleshooting Tips

Use Postman

The best way to test an API is to use a tool like Postman. It’s a Chrome extension that lets you build and save HTTP requests, making it easy to run large numbers quickly. You can also use it with the REST Request Builder to perform CRUD operations on your APIs using a simple “drag-and-drop” interface.

Many other tools can help you test your APIs. For instance, Postman Pro is a paid option that offers additional features and support for teams. You can also use software like SoapUI, which was built specifically for API testing.



Use Curl

curl is a command line tool for sending HTTP requests and getting HTTP responses. It’s available on most operating systems and can test an API without writing code.

curl supports sending POST, PUT and DELETE requests as well as GET requests by default, but it can also be configured to support other request methods like HEAD if you need them.

Code It Up in Python and Make Calls Directly to The API

To test an API, you’ll need to be able to make calls directly to the API. This is done by using a library for Python called requests. It’s available for download on PyPI, so you can install it via pip:

pip install requests

Once you’ve got that, write your code and test it out by making some HTTP requests. You’ll want something like this (using vatcheckapi.com):

import requests
url = ‘https://api_url’ headers = {‘Authorization’: ‘Bearer ‘ + token}
response = requests.get(url=url, headers=headers) data = response.json() if data[‘status’] == 200: # success!
else: # failure



Conclusion

These are my top three methods for testing out APIs. If you’re interested in learning more about how to test your API, check out the official documentation or this blog post by Google. They provide lots of information on how to use the different tools mentioned here and other helpful tips that might help make your life easier when dealing with APIs!

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Evelyn Addison

Evelyn is an assistant editor for The Next Tech and Just finished her master’s in modern East Asian Studies and plans to continue with her old hobby that is computer science.

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