Method and apparatus for object-oriented load testing of computing systems

A method for developing, in an existing protocol, load tests of computing systems, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of:

• providing in memory a kernel having a plurality of core actions for use in a subject load test script;
• for core actions employed in the subject load test script, implementing the core actions as kernel actions that are specializations of the corresponding core actions that can be executed at will, and that are written in an object oriented programming language underlying the existing protocol such that each individual kernel action is modeled as a respective object in the object-oriented programming language enabling different kernel actions to be treated equally in execution resources, each kernel action being atomic and extensible;
• and
• applying the subject load test script to a number of test clients including scheduling for execution and executing the kernel actions using a processor, the kernel actions being able to be swapped into and out of executable states and individually executed at will and treated equally enabling a number of resources per number of kernel actions instead of per number of test clients, resulting in use of a relatively small number of resources as compared to the number of test clients, wherein the relatively small number of resources is less than one thread per user emulated to generate a load, wherein the processor is free from creating a process for each test client and wherein the processor enables a plurality of kernel actions of different test clients in one process;
• wherein the step of implementing the core actions as kernel actions includes:
• extending base classes of the protocol;
• and
• adding corresponding references to the subject load test script, resulting in, for a given kernel action, a new kernel action being executed in place of the given kernel action free of necessitating modification of rest of the kernel.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium including computer usable program code stored thereon for developing, in an existing protocol, load tests of computing systems, said computer program product being non-transitory and including:

• computer usable program code for providing a kernel having a plurality of core actions for use in a subject load test script;
• for core actions employed in the subject load test script, computer usable program code for implementing the core actions as kernel actions that are specializations of the corresponding core actions that can be executed at will, and that are written in an object oriented programming language underlying the existing protocol such that each individual kernel action is modeled as a respective object in the object-oriented programming language enabling different kernel actions to be treated equally in execution resources and each kernel action being atomic and extensible;
• computer usable program code for applying the subject load test script to a number of test clients, including scheduling for execution and executing the kernel actions using a processor, the kernel actions being able to be swapped into and out of executable states and individually executed at will and treated equally enabling a number of resources per number of kernel actions instead of per number of test clients, and resulting in use of a relatively small number of resources as compared to the number of test clients, wherein the relatively small number of resources is less than one thread per user emulated to generate a load, wherein the processor is free from creating a process for each test client and wherein the processor enables a plurality of kernel actions of different test clients in one process;
• computer useable program code for extending base classes and/or adding features of the protocol;
• and
• computer useable program code for automating addition of corresponding references to the subject load test script, resulting in, for a given kernel action, a new kernel action executed in place of the given kernel action free of needing to modify rest of the kernel.

A computer system for developing, in an existing protocol, load tests of computing systems, comprising:

• kernel means in memory providing a plurality of kernel actions for use in a subject load test script, the kernel actions being executable at will specializations of core actions stored in memory, the kernel actions being written in an object-oriented programming language underlying the existing protocol such that each individual kernel action is modeled as a respective object in the object-oriented programming language enabling different kernel actions to be treated equally in execution resources including threads and processes, and each kernel action being atomic and extensible;
• execution means executable by a processor for applying the subject load test script to a number of test clients, the execution means scheduling for execution and executing the kernel actions, the kernel actions being able to be swapped into and out of executable states and individually executed at will and treated equally enabling a number of resources per number of kernel actions instead of per number of test clients, and resulting in use of a relatively small number of resources as compared to the number of test clients, the relatively small number being on the order of less than one thread per user emulated to generate a load, wherein the processor is free from creating a process for each test client and wherein the processor enables a plurality of kernel actions of different test clients in one process;
• and
• extension means in memory operatively communicating with the kernel means for extending the protocol including any combination of extending base classes of the protocol and adding features to the protocol,
• wherein the kernel means enables corresponding references to extensions of the protocol to be automatically added to the subject load test script, resulting in, for a given kernel action, a new kernel action being executed in place of the given kernel action free of modifying rest of the kernel means.