Comparison of open-source runtime testing tools for microservices

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of software applications developed using the microservices architectural pattern. This trend is due to the benefits derived from the more traditional N-tier architectural patterns that use monolithic designs for each tier. The value of using the microservices architectural pattern, particularly in the cloud, has been pioneered by companies such as Netflix and Google. These companies have created protocols and tools to support the development of cloud-based applications. However, the testing of microservices applications continues to be challenging due to the added complexity of network communication between the collaborating services. In addition, an increasing number of tools are being used to test microservices-based applications, which makes selecting the most appropriate tool(s) a challenging task. In this article, we compare several open-source tools used to support the testing of microservices based on testing levels, the scaffolding required, languages used for test cases, and the type of interface used to interact with the applications under test. We describe a prototype for a microservices-based application called Rideshare that allows users to reserve rides from available drivers. Using the Rideshare application, we performed a study using a subset of selected open-source tools to determine the overhead added by these tools. We present the results of the study and describe our experiences in configuring the tools to test the Rideshare application using different testing approaches.