{"id":187,"date":"2026-02-26T17:08:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/?page_id=187"},"modified":"2026-02-26T18:13:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:13:52","slug":"performance-testing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/testing-types\/performance-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Is Performance Testing?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Performance testing <\/strong>evaluates how a software system behaves under expected and extreme workloads. It focuses on speed, scalability, stability, and responsiveness<\/strong>, ensuring the system can handle real-world usage without degrading or failing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance testing answers questions such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • How fast does the system respond?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • How many users can it support?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Does performance degrade over time?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • What happens during peak usage?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t
    Why It Matters<\/th>Who Performs It<\/th>When It Occurs<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    • Prevents system slowdowns and outages<\/li>
    • Protects user experience and business reputation<\/li>
    • Ensures systems scale as usage grows<\/li>
    • Identifies bottlenecks before production<\/li>
    • Reduces costly emergency fixes after release<\/li><\/ul>A system that works functionally but performs poorly will quickly lose users.<\/td>
    • Performance test engineers<\/li>
    • Developers (for tuning and diagnostics)<\/li><\/ul><\/td>
    • After system integration<\/li>
    • Before major releases<\/li>
    • Before go-live or high-traffic events<\/li>
    • After infrastructure or configuration changes<\/li>
    • Continuously for high-availability systems<\/li><\/ul><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n

      Typical Performance Testing Techniques<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Load Testing<\/strong>\n
          \n
        • Measures system behavior under expected user load.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Purpose<\/em>: Confirm the system performs well under normal conditions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Examples<\/em>:\n
            \n
          • 1,000 concurrent users submitting transactions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Typical daily transaction volume<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Stress Testing<\/strong>\n
              \n
            • Pushes the system beyond normal limits to identify breaking points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Purpose<\/em>: Understand system failure behavior and recovery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Examples<\/em>:\n
                \n
              • Sudden spike in users<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Resource exhaustion scenarios<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Scalability Testing<\/strong>\n
                  \n
                • Evaluates how well the system scales when resources or users increase.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Purpose<\/em>: Ensure growth does not degrade performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Examples<\/em>:\n
                    \n
                  • Adding servers to handle more users<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Cloud auto-scaling validation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Endurance (Soak) Testing<\/strong>\n
                      \n
                    • Runs the system under load for an extended period.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Purpose<\/em>: Detect memory leaks and resource degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Example<\/em>:\n
                        \n
                      • 24-hour or multi-day sustained usage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      • Volume Testing<\/strong>\n
                          \n
                        • Tests system behavior with large amounts of data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Purpose<\/em>: Validate performance with high data volumes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Examples<\/em>:\n
                            \n
                          • Millions of records in a database<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          • Large file uploads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          • Spike Testing<\/strong>\n
                              \n
                            • Introduces sudden, extreme load changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                            • Purpose<\/em>: Evaluate resilience during traffic surges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                              Key Takeaways<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                                \n
                              • Performance testing validates speed, stability, and scalability<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • Must reflect real-world usage patterns<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • Should be performed before production<\/strong>, not after<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              • Needed for both SaaS platforms and custom systems where high-volume critical business processes exist<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                What Is Performance Testing? Performance testing evaluates how a software system behaves under expected and extreme workloads. It focuses on speed, scalability, stability, and responsiveness, ensuring the system can handle real-world usage without degrading or failing. Performance testing answers questions such as: Typical Performance Testing Techniques Key Takeaways<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4975,"featured_media":0,"parent":43,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-187","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions\/218"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/softwaretesting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}