Which Method Gives Fastest to 10000 Test Runs? Test Results Shown!

Okay so today I got pissed off waiting forever for our test suite to run. Like seriously, how many coffee breaks can one person take? I decided enough was enough. The goal: hit 10,000 test runs. Fast. Which way is the fastest? Let’s find out.

My Bright Idea & First Try

First, I thought, “Obvious! Just run more stuff at the same time!” Easy, right? Went for parallel testing.

  • Tool: My trusty Jenkins setup.
  • Method: Kicked off multiple test runners simultaneously. Thought I was smart.
  • Reality Check: Total mess. Tests started tripping over each other trying to use the same fake “user” data. Locking issues galore. Server sounded like it was gonna take flight trying to keep up.
  • Time for 10k: Felt like watching paint dry. Almost 3 hours! Nope.

Dave walks by: “Sounds like your server’s dying.” Thanks, Dave. Helpful.

Which Method Gives Fastest to 10000 Test Runs? Test Results Shown!

Plan B: Batch Processing

Back to the drawing board. Forget fancy parallel, just feed it lots of smaller chunks.

  • Tool: Still Jenkins, but different plugin.
  • Method: Split the entire load into baby batches of 100 tests each. Fire them off one after another, automatically.
  • Reality Check: Less screaming from the server. No fights over data. But oh man, starting each new batch added this annoying little pause. Hundreds of pauses add up!
  • Time for 10k: Better… around 1 hour 45 minutes. Still felt sluggish, especially towards the end.

Hail Mary: Specialized Hardware

Okay, thinking outside the box now. Read about using those fancy GPU things.

  • Tool: Borrowed a dev machine with a proper graphics card.
  • Method: Setup was fiddly. Had to install this niche library I’d never heard of before. Config files… shudder. But once it was running? Whoa.
  • Reality Check: Getting it working took longer than running the tests! Almost gave up twice. But holy speed!
  • Time for 10k: Under 2 minutes. Seriously. I blinked. That was it. Most time was the GPU setup overhead.

So What Actually Won?

Here’s the brutal truth:

  • Parallel (My 1st Idea): ~180 minutes. Loud, crashy, felt dangerous.
  • Batched Chunks: ~105 minutes. Steady, boring, kinda slow.
  • GPU Power: ~2 minutes (once running). Insanely fast, but super annoying to setup.

The Kick in the Teeth? No perfect answer. Need raw speed RIGHT NOW with zero setup? Suck it up and wait for batches. Got time to wrestle config files? GPU is ridiculous. Parallel… maybe avoid unless your tests are super simple.

Feels good to know, even if the answer is “it depends”. Hope this saves someone else three hours!

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