I’m going to let you into a little secret about web application performance testing. It doesn’t always do what you probably think it does. More specifically, the figures you get back aren’t always the full story.
Sure, performance testing will let you see how quickly your systems are responding. However, it won’t tell you anything about how long it takes to display information on a user’s device.
This is because HTTP-based performance scripts only test server-side response times. While this is useful, it can’t give you a complete picture.
With HTTP-based testing, you can only ever get detailed information about what’s happening in the back end.
You don’t get an easy way to assess how long your page takes to actually render on the user’s mobile application or web browser.
Micro Focus TruClient solves this problem.
It allows you to performance test the real-world user experience of your web and mobile applications.
It’s worth noting that this was technically possible before TruClient, although it was by no means a straightforward process and involved additional tooling. Previously, you would have to use UFT to create a GUI script and run this through LoadRunner.
How is TruClient Different?
Unlike traditional performance testing, TruClient tests the true end-to-end performance. This includes response times and, crucially, loading and rendering time – how long a page takes to fully display on your user’s device.
TruClient achieves this by using GUI-based performance test scripts, rather than the more common protocol-level performance test scripts.
Once created, your TruClient scripts can be executed in performance, automation or monitoring software. They can also be converted to HTML scripts, allowing you to ramp up background Vusers easily and cheaply.
TruClient also provides a major benefit for less experienced, or less technical performance testers. Namely, the purely GUI nature makes it much easier to script using TruClient than some traditional tools.
Why Use TruClient?
As mentioned above, normal performance testing only tests server response times. This is ok if you’re testing a relatively simple page or app with trivial rendering/load times.
Unfortunately, things aren’t usually this simple. In most cases, load times are non-trivial. The more complicated your page, the longer it will take to load. Elements like videos, images or JavaScript can have a material impact on page load times and user experience.
An Example of TruClient v HTTP
Let’s say you had a relatively complicated page with a handful of hi-res images and some JavaScript. This page has the following performance:
- Server response time = 1 second
- Rendering time = 3 seconds
- Total end-to-end user experience = 4 seconds (1 + 3)
Testing this page with an HTTP protocol level script would only show 1 second page load time. On the other hand, a TruClient script would show the full 4 second load time.
Now, let’s say your non-functional requirement for page load time is 2 seconds. The HTTP protocol level script would give you a false result.
Your real-world response time would be double the acceptable duration. This could have a huge impact on your user experience. Especially when you consider the cumulative impact of a user visiting multiple pages.
TruClient Enables Easy Cross-Browser Testing
Another major advantage of TruClient comes when testing across multiple browser types. This is useful because, while most web browsers provide similar functionality, page load times can vary.
Scripts recorded with the TruClient Web protocol can be used to test any supported browser. This allows you to accurately assess the true experience for a range of different browser types.
TruClient Supports More Apps Than Traditional Performance Testing
TruClient’s GUI-based scripts can run performance tests against software with a standard GUI interface – even if LoadRunner doesn’t support the underlying protocol. This makes testing complex ERP systems like MS Dynamics 365 and SAP Web much easier.
A Word of Warning: TruClient is Resource Heavy
TruClient is a genuine hidden gem and a tool I strongly recommend, but it does require significant computing power. As I’ve mentioned above, TruClient scripts actually render pages, which is much more resource intensive than traditional protocol-based scripts which simply read responses.
Because of this, you cannot run masses of Vusers from a single load generator. Instead, I recommend a few TruClient scripts alongside protocol-level Vusers – these will give you the volume you need.
The resource demands also make TruClient relatively expensive to run via LoadRunner Cloud, although the business case for TruClient does stack up if user experience is foremost among your concerns.
Test Your Software’s Real-World Performance
If you need to test your solution’s true user experience, then I strongly recommend TruClient. It is a powerful hidden gem amongst performance tools.
To experience TruClient for yourself, why not arrange a demo with Calleo? Calleo is the leading Micro Focus test tool partner. We will help you choose the right tool and can support you in building your business case.
