| SD Times: Is SOA Quality a Priority? |
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By David S. Linthicum SOA testing is in the media a bit these days as those who implement SOA have to make sure those new services, abstraction layers and orchestrations are ready for prime time. However, the common approach to SOA deployment is: development now, requirements maybe, and testing if we have the time. You can’t afford to make that mistake; there is too much on the line with this stuff. ... Testing services, however, requires testing tools, unless you plan to write your own, which I don’t recommend. While there are a few players in the services/SOA testing game, Mindreef’s SOAPscope Server is one of the few that I keep seeing in use. Mindreef provides tools for automated testing and debugging of Web services and SOA projects, from validation of the service, testing to form and function, and performance testing. There are other tools as well, each taking a different approach to SOA quality, so do your research. I would recommend only using tools that have well-defined approaches to testing, or step-by-step procedures for leveraging their testing tools for your SOA. What’s key here is to remember that you’re testing an architecture, and not an application. Thus, the complexity of the system, and the approaches and tools used for testing, goes way up. It’s important that you have a solid test plan, an arsenal of testing tools and techniques, and the time needed to test the architecture and correct any problems before they are found by the end user. Consider the systemic and business critical nature of the architecture. Just to be very clear: Don’t skimp on testing! |
