Part 10: Continuous Performance Testing & CI/CD Integration (Performance Testing Revision Cheat Sheet)

 

📌 Purpose

Integrating performance testing into CI/CD pipelines ensures that performance issues are detected early and continuously, not just before release.

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🎯 Key Concepts

1. Shift-Left Testing

   • Incorporate performance tests in development & QA phases.

   • Detect bottlenecks before production deployment.

2. Automated Test Execution

   • Use CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps).

   • Trigger performance tests on build, merge, or scheduled intervals.

   • Include baseline and regression tests.

3. Parameterized & Scalable Tests

   • Use environment variables or config files for multiple environments (dev, QA, staging).

   • Enable dynamic scaling for cloud-based load generators.

4. Integration with Monitoring & Reporting

   • Push results to dashboards (Grafana, Kibana, Dynatrace).

   • Compare metrics against baseline and SLA thresholds.

   • Alert teams on performance regressions.

5. Performance Regression Testing

   • Validate new changes do not degrade system performance.

   • Maintain historical performance data for trend analysis.

6. Continuous Feedback Loop

   • Developers, SREs, and testers receive actionable feedback.

   • Allows rapid remediation and optimization cycles.

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🛠️ Deliverables

• Automated performance tests in CI/CD pipelines.

• Baseline vs regression performance reports.

• Alerts for SLA breaches or resource anomalies.

• Documentation of trends, fixes, and lessons learned.