DevWeb Vs TruClient Protocol

DevWeb Vs TruClient Protocol Micro Focus products have evolved recently; product names, version conventions, new features, enhancements etc. It is performance testers responsibility to adhere to the recent changes and be top of it. One of my reader has asked what is the difference between DevWeb and TruClient protocol in Micro Focus LoadRunner Professional. This blog post will address the comparison between DevWeb and TruClient.

Before we see about the differences between DevWeb and TruClient, it is important to know about the history of DevWeb and TruClient.

DevWeb Vs TruClient Protocol

What is DevWeb?

Here is the official definition of DevWeb protocol:

DevWeb Logo
DevWeb Logo

What is TruClient?

Here is the official definition of TruClient.

TruClient Logo
TruClient Logo

Deep-dive into DevWeb protocol

When the DevWeb was in technical preview version, the name was TruWeb. I have already published an Udemy course about TruWeb, you can check it out with discount here. Udemy frequently runs promotion where you can buy the course for $9.99.

From the version LoadRunner 2020, DevWeb becomes the complete offering from Micro Focus meaning you need to abide the terms and conditions of Micro Focus while using the DevWeb protocol. Also, Micro Focus officially support DevWeb in case if you run into any issues.

As you read in the official definition, DevWeb is a lightweight, scalable, cross-platform protocol which communicates over HTTP and WebSocket and evaluates the performance of your web application/services.

Using the DevWeb, you can test the web applications typically you will be testing modern web apps and web services such as ReST.

DevWeb comes with your LoadRunner Professional package. Also, it is available as stand alone installation.

In DevWeb protocol you can run up to 150 Vusers for free forever.

You can record HTTP/2, HTTP(S), and WebSocket protocol in DevWeb.

The latest version of DevWeb is 2020.0 (at this time of writing).

Without installing the LoadRunner Professional, you can still use all the capabilities (recording, scripting and execution) of DevWeb protocol using the standalone installation.

DevWeb supports JavaScript SDK and full Unicode.

Below features of DevWeb totally differentiates from the traditional protocol such as Web HTTP/HTML and TruClient.

  • Cross-platform
  • Highly Scalable
  • Modern JavaScript SDK and full Unicode support
  • Standalone Recording
  • Standalone Scripting
  • Standalone Execution
  • SQLite for DevWeb results or InfluxDB

Deep-dive into TruClient

The latest version of TruClient is 2020. The inception name of TruClient was AJAX TruClient. Since 2013, AJAX TruClient evolved and with 2020 version, it is packed loads of features with the modern UI elements.

TruClient protocol was created to address the modern web technologies performance evaluation. Measuring the performance only on the server side is not enough. We need to understand how the user feels when the page is loading in the modern web browsers. Heavy JavaScript being loaded in the client side so that the browser can make asynchronous calls (only when required) to the server for the hassle free navigation and seamless experience.

TruClient is a browser-base tool to record the business transactions for load testing or monitoring web and mobile applications.

TruClient protocol core is TruClient engine which record the business actions as the user navigates in the application while recording.

When replaying, TruClient uses its proprietary object recognition framework (be default) to identify the object uniquely and performance the recorded action. It is possible to write custom coding, xpath, libraries, etc in TruClient.

TruClient is also available as a stand alone version. You need LoadRunner Professional or other compatible offerings from Micro Focus to execute the load test. There was a Chrome extension, but it’s now deprecated.

Unlike DevWeb, TruClient is not a cross-platform. You can install only in Windows OS.

TruClient measures end-to-end performance (browser rendering time) where as DevWeb measures only the server end metrics.

Out of the box, TruClient measures DOM Interactive, and DOMContentLoaded Event duration.

In DevWeb, it might be possible to write custom JavaScript to measure the DOM, I need to dig into it further.

TruClient results can be viewed in Analysis. TruClient is matured protocol, it already went into multiple stable releases.

DevWeb is a new born and it is evolving.

Which protocol is apt?

The protocol selection is based on your objectives of performance testing. If the objective is to measure the server side and you do not have budget and infrastructure for more than 150 VUsers, then you can go for DevWeb.

If the objective is to measure the client-side rendering, then TruClient is the apt protocol.

About the Author

2 thoughts on “DevWeb Vs TruClient Protocol”

  1. I am looking at DevWeb right now, and asking myself this question: What is the point of conducting performance testing of Javascript-heavy applications? The end-user experience is being completely ignored, and that typically is where the pain originates. Pages that take 25 to 30 seconds to playback because of tons of React, Angular and other client-side code is more critical than a Server side call that takes milliseconds. If all I want to add to my CI/CD pipeline is API and components tests, there are dozens of tools that can do the job, with absolutely no limitations.

    Reply

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