## What is load testing?
Load testing is the process of simulating real user traffic on an application with the goal of assessing or improving its performance and stability.
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- [[Performance testing vs. load testing]]
## Ways to simulate load
- [[Browser-based testing]]: Automating actual user interactions with an app
- [[Protocol-based load testing]]: Sending requests to servers on the transport layer
- [[Hybrid load testing]]: A mixture of browser-based and protocol-based testing
## [[Load Test Types]]
Load tests involve generating large amounts of traffic against an application under different circumstances.
- Peak load test
- Stress test
- Soak test
- Spike test
## The load testing process
- [[Planning for load testing]]
- [[Writing load testing scripts]]
- [[Executing load tests]]
- [[Analyzing load testing results]]
- [[Continuous Load Testing]]
## [[Load Testing Tool|Load Testing Tools]]
Load testing tools are applications used to script and execute load tests.
### [[Load Testing Platform]]s
Load testing platforms facilitate scripting and ramp up script execution on distributed infrastructure.
### Ancillary tools for load testing
There are many tools that are not for load test scripting per se, but are useful tools to use alongside scripting tools.
- [[Web Proxies]]
## Troubleshooting
- [[Common issues in load test results]]
- [[Comparing response times from different tools]]
## Existing Content
- [[Book/Mine/API Load Testing: A Beginner's Guide]]