What is Postman (A Tutorial for Beginners)
What is Postman? This article will provide a comprehensive introduction to Postman, so let's get started.
What is Postman
Postman is an API development and testing platform that offers a variety of features. It allows developers to easily create and share API requests and collections, automate testing, mock APIs, and monitor performance. Postman also provides collaboration and documentation tools, enabling teams to work together more efficiently and communicate API behavior effectively. This article will provide a comprehensive introduction to Postman, so let's get started.
What is Postman Used for?
Postman is a software application that allows developers to test, document, and share APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). Developers widely use it to simplify the process of testing APIs by providing a user-friendly interface for making requests, viewing responses, and debugging issues.
Apart from this, If you want to take out Mocking API and user-friendly API documentation, this article offers an ideal option for you. Apidog is a powerful API development tool that connects everyone involved in the API development process. All-in-One workspace for API Design, Documentation, debugging, mocking, test.
Comparison Between Postman and Apidog
| Postman | Apidog | |
|---|---|---|
| API Designing | - Design APIs visually | - Design APIs visually |
| - Define and reuse schemas | - Define and reuse schemas | |
| - Generate API specification from the request | - Generate API specification from the request | |
| - Recognize JSON/XML/SQL to schema | - Recognize JSON/XML/SQL to schema | |
| API Debugging | - Pre/Post-request Scripts | - Pre/Post-request Scripts |
| - Response validation | - Response validation | |
| - Connect to databases | ||
| API Testing | - CI/CD | - CI/CD |
| - Run collections:25/month | - Add assertions visually | |
| - Run collections: Unlimited | ||
| - Online test reports | ||
| API Documentation | - Custom domain | - Custom domain |
| - Custom documentation layout | - Custom documentation layout | |
| - Markdown pages | ||
| API Mock | - Smart mock engine | - Smart mock engine |
| - Cloud mock server | - Cloud mock server | |
| Pricing | Free for 3 users |
There is no doubt that Apidog is a powerful collaboration tool. Although Postman is more complete in terms of navigation etc. Here is a detailed description of the features of both.
API Designing
Postman provides a powerful visual editor to help you design APIs with ease and efficiency. With its intuitive user interface, you can create API endpoints and set their parameters, request, and response payloads, and authentication settings. The visual editor also allows you to document your API with clear and concise descriptions, making it easy for other developers to understand and use your API.
API Debugging
Postman offers pre and post-request scripts that allow you to customize your requests and automate certain tasks. Pre-request scripts can be used to set dynamic variables, headers, and parameters, while post-request scripts can be used to perform actions based on the response of the API. With these scripts, you can streamline your workflow and quickly identify and fix any issues with your API.
API Testing
Postman provides a comprehensive set of features to help you test your API and ensure that it meets the required standards. With automated testing, you can easily set up continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows, allowing you to test your API at every stage of development.
It also provides a range of testing tools, including unit tests, integration tests, and load tests, to ensure that your API performs as expected under various conditions. With these tools, you can ensure that your API is reliable, secure, and scalable.
Postman Plans and Pricing
Postman offers both free and paid plans. The free plan includes basic features such as request building, testing, and collaboration, while the paid plans offer additional features such as automated testing, team collaboration, and advanced documentation tools. The paid plans range from $8 per user per month to $24 per user per month, depending on the features required.
| Plans | Free | Basic | Professional | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $12 | $29 | $99 |
| Pros | Start designing, developing, and testing APIs. Free for 3 users | Collaborate with your team to design, develop, and test APIs faster. | Centrally manage the entire API workflow. | Securely manage, organize, and accelerate API-first development at scale. |
Drawbacks of Postman
Postman is a popular tool used by developers for API testing and development, but like any tool, it also has its drawbacks. Here are some of the potential drawbacks of Postman:
- Learning Curve: While Postman is relatively easy to use, it can take some time to learn how to use it effectively. This can be especially true for beginners new to API development and testing.
- Limited Features in Free Version: Postman offers a free version, but it has some limitations. For example, the free version only allows for a limited number of API calls per month and doesn't include some advanced features like team collaboration and automated testing.
- Dependence on a Third-Party Tool: Postman is a third-party tool, so developers may become overly reliant on it and not develop a strong understanding of APIs and other development tools.
In conclusion, Postman is a powerful API development and testing software that offers a range of features to simplify the process of working with APIs. But it as well as has limitations. The cost of the paid version may be a concern for some developers or organizations. As for this, we highly recommend Apidog.
The Main Features of Apidog
API Designing
Apidog's powerful visual editor allows you to design APIs with ease. Requests and responses can refer to schemas, and JSON, XML, and SQL data structures can be recognized in request and response definitions. You can define and re-use schemas that follow the OpenAPI Specification, and generate response examples in one click.
API Debugging
Apidog allows you to send all kinds of HTTP requests while designing APIs and generates request parameters from dynamic values. Responses can be automatically verified according to the API definition while requests are sent. By connecting to databases, you can debug data persistence and retrieval issues.
API Testing
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) ensures that the API is tested automatically and consistently throughout the development process. Assertions are used to validate the response returned by the API. Adding assertions visually can simplify the testing process. Online test reports can provide visibility into the testing process and make identifying and resolving issues easier.
API Documentation
Apidog generates documentation and mock data automatically without the need for scripts. Custom domains can help make the API documentation more accessible and user-friendly. Customizing the layout of the API documentation can make it more visually appealing and easier to navigate. Using Markdown to write API documentation can simplify the process and make it easier to maintain.
API Mock
API mocking is the process of simulating an API for testing or development purposes. A smart mock engine can generate realistic responses based on the request. And the cloud mock server can provide a reliable and scalable solution for mocking APIs.
Apart from the above functions, Apidog also supports An IDEA plugin that can provide an integrated development environment for creating, testing, and debugging APIs. Finally, collaboration features enable multiple developers to work on an API together. Unlimited collaboration ensures that teams can work together without being limited by user or project constraints.
Believe that many developers know how to test API with Postman, but in fact, Apidog is easier to operate, after testing the use of really good, the following are the detailed steps:
How to Test API With Apidog in Detail
Step 1. Sign Up for an Apidog Account
Go to the Apidog website and sign up for a free account.
Step 2. Create a New Project
Click on the "New Project" button and give your project a name and description.
Step 3. Add Your API
Click on the "Add API" button and enter your API URL.
Step 4. Create a New Test
Click the "Add Test" button, give your test a name and description, and click the "Save" button to save your test.
Step 5. Run Your Test
Click on the "Run" button to run your test. Apidog will send requests to your API and run your test script to check for errors.
Step 6. View Your Test Results
After your test has finished, click on the "Results" tab to view your test results. You can see which tests passed and failed and view detailed logs of each test run.
You can create a collection of tests to run multiple tests simultaneously. Click the "New Collection" button and give your collection a name and description. Click the "Add Test" button and select the tests you want to add to your collection.
Run Your Collection Apidog will send requests to your API and run all the tests in your collection. After your collection has finished running, click on the "Results" tab to view the results of your collection runner.
Conclusion
Apidog is the best alternative to Postman, offering developers a more comprehensive API testing experience. Its advanced features include the ability to create custom test cases, generate reports and perform load tests, giving developers more flexibility and power in their testing workflow. With its advanced features, Apidog offers developers a more comprehensive and powerful testing solution than Postman. So if you're looking for a tool that offers more flexibility, power, and collaboration capabilities, Apidog is definitely worth considering as a replacement for Postman.
