POSTMAN

 POSTMAN INTRODUCTION:

Postman is a popular software testing tool that is used for API testing. Developers may use this tool to effortlessly design, test, distribute, and document APIs.

• POSTMAN is an API client that may be used to create, test, distribute, and document APIs. It is used for backend testing, in which we enter the end-point URL, request the server, and then receive the server's response.
• It is a simple Graphic User Interface for sending and viewing HTTP requests and responses.
• Almost all capability that a developer would want is embedded in this program. This tool can perform HTTP queries such as GET, POST, PUT, and PATCH, as well as transform the API to code for languages such as JavaScript and Python.
•  It mainly helps in reaching API endpoints by swiftly making requests with the API definition and examining return elements such as the status code, headers, and the actual response body itself.

POSTMAN ADVANCED FEATURES:

Postman’s advanced features are like:

• API development.
• Setting up Mock endpoints for APIs that are still under development.
• API documentation.
• Assertions for the responses received from API endpoint execution.
• Integration with CI-CD tools like Jenkins, TeamCity, etc.
• Automating API tests execution etc.

HTTP REQUESTS:

HTTP = HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL

HTTP is a set of standards for transmitting data across the World Wide Web, such as visual pictures, text, video, sound, and other multimedia data. When a person opens a web browser, they are automatically using HTTP.

The most commonly used HTTP methods are GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, DELETE, and OPTIONS.

POSTMAN ALTERNATIVES:

Top 9 Postaman alternatives:

• Testfully
• Insomnia
• Hoppscotch
• Paw
• Thunder Client
• Postcode
• Firecamp
• TestMace
• Nightingale
• Comparison Table

POSTMAN INSTALLATION:

Postman is available as a native software for all major operating systems, including Mac, Linux, and Windows (standalone application). Postman is also available as a chrome extension application, however, it is preferable to install and use the native app because the chrome extension does not support all of the functionality present in the native app.

Steps to download and install the Postman Application:

• Click on Download Button.  Click download for Mac or Windows or Linux based on your operating system.

• To download the software for Windows, click the download button and choose the appropriate version. I choose the 64-bit version. If you have a 32-bit operating system, you can select the 32-bit option, as indicated in the above image.
• Create an account with all of the necessary information, or join up with Google, as seen in the image.
• After logging in, choose the workspace tools that best suit your needs and then click Continue to go to the starting page.
• You will then see the following screen, and you are ready to utilize Postman.

• You will receive a notification in your Postman app if any update is available.

POSTMAN NAVIGATION:

We can split the postman navigation into four UI structures:

1. Header Bar
2. Sidebar
3. Builder Section
4. Response Section

• Header bar

The header bar contains New, Request, Collection, Environment, Documentation, Mock Server, Monitor, and API options.

• Sidebar

The Sidebar contains the History and Collections sections.

• Builder or Request Section

The Builder section contains Untitled Request, HTTP requests, Request URLs, params, Authorizations, Headers, Body, pre-request Script, and Test Scripts.

• Response Section

The response section shows the API replies returned by the server. These are created once an API request is sent to the server. Because we did not send a request, there is no answer in our circumstance.

POSTMAN API GROWTH IN COLLECTIONS:

Postman collections have rapidly increased to 34.9 million as of January 2020.

The complete principles for HTTP requests will be uploaded in the next post.

CONCLUSION:

In this post, we covered the important pointers for using the Postman API testing tool. How to set up the Postman tool was taught to us. Postman is a popular software testing tool that is used for API testing.