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An Introduction to k6: Load Test Your API with Ease

Farhan Labib
7 min readMar 3, 2023

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Are you seeking a free, open-source load-testing tool for your RESTful API? Look no further than k6.

k6 is an open-source, developer-friendly tool for load, performance, and stress testing of APIs, micro-services, and websites. It is designed to be scriptable, scalable, and easy to use, even for those with little or no previous experience in load testing. With k6, you can simulate realistic traffic and measure how your system responds under load, so you can identify and fix performance issues before they impact your users.

One of the great things about k6 is that it allows you to code your testing scripts in JavaScript. If you prefer TypeScript, k6 even offers template support. Plus, you can generate testing scripts from OpenAPI or Postman.

Let’s move on to the next section for the setup and installation.

Setup

Setting up and installing k6 on different platforms is a breeze, and the process varies slightly depending on your operating system.

Windows

Windows users can easily install k6 using its MSI installer. Download the installer from the k6 website, run it like any other software installer, and you’re ready to use k6.

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Farhan Labib
Farhan Labib

Written by Farhan Labib

SQA Engineer | #softwaretesting #performance-testing #automation | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhan-labib/

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