purl

README

PURL - Parallel Client for URL

purl is a lightweight, parallelized alternative to the popular command-line tool curl. This program is designed for quick and small-scale testing, allowing users to assess how a service responds to multiple parallel requests, observe response times, and monitor resource consumption under pressure.

curl is widely used and well-known, everyone is familiar with its syntax and functionality. purl is designed to be used in a similar fashion to curl, with the addition of a --parallel flag to specify the number of parallel requests to make.

What does the program do?

purl enables you to make multiple HTTP requests in parallel, providing a simple way to test and monitor the performance of a web service. The program utilizes goroutines to execute concurrent requests, allowing you to simulate a load on the target service and gather insights into its behavior under stress.

How to Install

Prerequisites

• Go installed on your machine

Installation Steps

1. Install and update purl using the following command:

   GOPROXY=direct go install github.com/anonychun/purl@latest
   

   This command will automatically download, build, and install the purl executable in your $GOBIN directory.

2. Ensure that your $GOBIN directory is added to your system's PATH.

   export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin
   

   If you haven't set up your $GOBIN directory, you can use the default $GOPATH/bin:

   export PATH=$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin
   

3. Verify the installation:

   purl --help
   

   This should display the help menu for purl.

Usage

To run purl, use it in a similar fashion to curl:

purl [OPTIONS]

Options

• --parallel <number> Specify the number of parallel requests (default is 1).

Example

purl --parallel 100 https://example.com

Disclaimer

purl is developed for experimental and fun purposes. If you want to test the performance of a service, there are many other tools that are more suitable for the job. Please be cautious when using this tool and ensure you have the necessary permissions before testing against any services.

I've been playing with Portainer and other monitoring tools. I use this program for quick, small-scale testing to determine how much load a service can handle, the duration of its response, and, most importantly, to monitor the resource consumption of a service under the pressure of many parallel requests.

Extra

This is what I mean by quick and small-scale testing. I can simply copy the curl command from the browser, replace it with purl, and add the --parallel flag. Afterward, I run the command to get a quick overview of the service's performance.

You can also obtain curl commands from Postman and other tools, then use purl to test the service, as demonstrated in the example below.

https://github.com/anonychun/purl/assets/41361100/1593786b-6c55-4701-b78c-1002072dffd6