Automated Front-end Performance Testing Without Asterisks*

Front-end performance testing is hard. Really hard. There are hundreds of variables that affect end users’ perceived performance. Only a few are measured with traditional load testing tools. Few can be actively controlled outside of a dedicated test environment, and we lose credibility as soon as our tests leave that environment. Worse yet, the available front-end performance tooling blindly focuses on how quickly a page loads. What happens after the first load? At NASA Ames, our Mission Operators have an 18-hour shift. Then there is automation, none of those tools were designed to be automated like our e2e tests. Adding all this up means that, as performance testers, we’re required to add too many asterisks to our results… until now! In this live demo, we’ll detail the metrics that matter and how to measure them without asterisks. Using Browserless, Playwright, and k6, we’ll instrument and automate a performance test. We’ll have a front-end performance tooling state-of-the-union to outline what’s happening in this space and where we’re going. Lastly, we’ll end with ways to integrate these new tools into your existing CI/CD process and test frameworks.

* All while using FOSS tooling!