Top Software Testing Trends of Current Time

Software Testing is one of the most vital aspects of any project. Proper integration of testing procedures enables stakeholders as well as the QA team get a comprehensive report on the quality of the product. Today, we will explore the Software Testing Trends in detail.

Businesses have started integrating software testing procedures early in the development cycle. This is helping the development team identify defects ahead of time.

Advancement in software development processes has also resulted in the improvement of the Software Testing Industry. It is imperative that companies stay updated on these trends to implement them as much as possible into their projects.

User Experience With Usability Testing

Mobile applications are vital facilitators to organizations and a great way to connect to the customers.

Software testing of them secures good user interface, quicker loading time, and a simplified, smooth, and efficient usability flow.

Usability testing of software will help you identify bugs and errors before the release of applications and saves businesses from getting poor customer feedback. This is another important Software Testing Trends.

Test Automation Improving Agile & DevOps Quality

Increased test coverage, better insights, improved accuracy, these are just a few benefits of integrating manual testing with automation. Test automation allows organizations to catch bugs in the code in the initial phase of the developmental process.

With better collaboration and cooperation between the departments, relatively faster release and feedback cycles, much quicker Return of Interest, test automation with the Agile process, DevOps tools have resulted in Innovation in Software Testing.

This is one of the Software Testing Trends you should be aware of as a developer.

Big Data Testing

Big data is primarily the huge volumes of unstructured as well as structured data. These diverse data needs effective and appropriate testing to gain correct data validations.

Getting the correct data will help enterprises make improved decision making as well as to enhance market strategy.

IoT Testing To Boost Smart Devices

An efficient and strategic IoT testing will cover the complete testing of the software and the hardware of the devices, the communication protocol, as well as the operating system.

With the possibility of 25 billion IoT connected devices by the next year, testing for vulnerabilities in these devices is crucial.

A big part of working with IoT includes the system gathering considerable amounts of user data without them being aware of it.

This generated data helps organizations gain analytical insights in order to make more informed and efficient decisions. It is the duty of the developers and manufacturers to keep these data secure from threats and risks.

IoT Testing has a number of benefits including spotting of bugs and defects at early stages of development, improved test coverage, faster-automated testing, and reduced product release time. This is a standard Software Testing Trends that you will see from now on.

AI & ML In Testing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are gaining increased prominence and will keep on doing so in the future.

Artificial Intelligence will soon be affecting how almost all industries work. Machine Learning has various benefits as well which has dominantly changed the point of view on technologies.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will soon influence the software testing domain as well. AI and ML will result in more automation of the testing processes challenging the proficiency of human testers.

They are also expected to monitor the ever-increasing complexity of Internet of Things software and meet demands more efficiently. Hire programmers in India and get the adept developers to cut down all the complexity with their core expertise in these technologies and achieve smooth development process.

Blockchain Testing

With the rapid expansion of Bitcoin usage, Blockchain technology is gaining a lot of popularity. Blockchain is a digital ledger for online transactions.

The testing of this technology ensures that it remains protected from fraud and has functioning smart contracts.

An important part of blockchain technology is smart contacts. These are a certain type of software that uses Blockchain to carry out agreements and can automatically trigger events once the criterias are met.

For instance, once the delivery of a product is confirmed, a smart contract will automatically trigger and make the payment. Smart Contracts are key components of Software Testing Trends.

Smart contracts need a careful and methodical approach to their programming which can accurately trigger automated events. Since the execution of these events cannot be reversed once implemented, their testing is very crucial.

Cyber Security Testing

With almost everything being digitally revolutionized, it is imperative that organizations take assured steps to keep every vulnerable aspect of their software secure.

A lot of sensitive and personal data of users are stored in clouds. It is important for the enterprises to keep this data safe by implementing capable cybersecurity strategies.

Along with data, the internet also facilitates important transactions. Hence, cybersecurity is a crucial aspect that will ensure the welfare of the business.

Integrating  cybersecurity testing to test their systems, networks, as well as applications will help companies earn customer loyalty and save them from economic catastrophe. So, keep this Software Testing Trends in mind.

RPA Testing

Robotic Process Automation is an extended version of automation software that basically does repetitive and basic tasks across applications.

This innovative automation software mimics human actions and is programmed to complete rule-based tasks.

This includes testing as well. It has the potential of changing industries by performing tests with the help of automotive testing tools. For this reason, RPA Testing has made it to this list of Software Testing Trends.

Performance Testing Shifts To Performance Engineering

Applications are expected to support a sudden increase in usage load. If an application fails to work under pressure, it often loses essential customers.

Performance testing helps businesses identify the weak spots that will ultimately help their applications withstand this load.

However, Performance testing can only be executed after the completion of a round of development.

Performance Engineering, on the other hand, is implemented in every stage of the developmental process, starting from the designing phase to QA.

QAOps

With the increasing need for fast release and high-quality software applications from this digitalized world, the significance of quality assurance is increasing as well.

No longer is testing just limited to applications. QA is now an important part of the whole development of the software.

Correspondingly, another automation software that has gained popularity for the fast delivery of applications is DevOps.

The amalgamation of these two methodologies named QA and DevOps results in a new practice, which is known as DevTestOps or more popularly, QAOps.

The boundaries that were separating the development team, testing team and the operation team can be removed with the help of this new QAOps methodology.

With the help of this Innovation in Software Testing, Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) can be integrated to deliver high-quality applications without any delays.

Mobile Test Automation

Almost every potential customer of any business has access to a mobile phone and the quickest way to reach them is through a mobile application.

Companies are reasonably turning to develop apt mobile applications to connect with their customers.

This emerging market of mobile apps has led to the growing need for automotive tools for mobile testing. While they are necessary, the process of mobile test automation is a daunting task for developers.

There are a lot of factors that have to be taken into account including the different variety of devices, different types of operating system and even the different sizes of the said devices.

There are several existing automation tools. For example, Kobiton, which allows live testing of application software and consequently accelerating the process of the delivery.

Similar tools include Robotium, Appium, and TestComplete. Yet automotive tools for software testing of mobile applications remain on this list of trends.

Behavior-Driven Testing

Behavior-driven development or BDD is a development process of the Agile software that uses the method of cooperation among various departments of a software project.

They are Developers, non-technical partners, business partners, and the QA team to form an understanding about how the application should behave.

A lesser known companion of Behaviour-driven development is behaviour-driven testing. Behavior-Driven Testing, companies have successfully improved their insights and have encouraged user acceptance.

The tests on BDT are rather focused on the behaviour of the users than the technical functions of the software.

To integrate this form of testing into the project involves integrating Bdd Frameworks, BDD tools as well as test cases which are built based on how the user reacts with the application.

Cucumber and HipTest are two of several capable Behaviour driven development frameworks and tools. Software Testing Trends will have BDD as a vital cog this year.

Scriptless Automation Tools

It will help businesses achieve a far quicker delivery of applications which will result in greater Return of Interest.

Scriptless automation tools remove the need for engineers to write any code for automation of test cases.

It also improves the scalability of test automation. With no need for code, scriptless automation saves loads of time of the testers and gives faster results.

Multi-Device Testing

The growth of IoT has led to the emergence of various gadgets such as smart speakers and smart watches.

Companies are taking advantage of this emergence and developing applications that are compatible with not only mobiles but also these devices.

Thus, software testing is not just limited to mobile app testing but also facilitates the testing of multiple devices at once.

To enhance customer engagement, businesses can use multi-device testing to check how their application will perform in various platforms and devices.

This will substantiate how customers deal with the applications in devices other than just their smartphone or desktops.

Integration Of Tools

The need for integration of tools is increasing as organizations understand the role it plays in the delivery of fast, efficient, and high-quality applications. Integrating tools will help companies achieve seamless functionality.

Testing tools that can easily fuse with the existing tools will provide even better application management.

This is a crucial Software Testing News that will ensure businesses that use them to reduce costs and provide better application management.

App Penetration Testing

There are several internet-based applications that have critical user data stored in clouds. These applications often have numerous vulnerabilities and are constantly prone to cyber-attacks.

An inclusion of Application Penetration Testing will help companies spot all the weak parts of their web application that are vulnerabilities and hence take necessary steps to improve the security controls of the application.

API & Services Test Automation

API or Application Programming Interface is a software that allows one system to communicate and exchange data with another. This interface and other services are often reused more than one time across components.

Hence, it is necessary that these API and services are tested independently, outside the application which is using them.

Test Environment

With all the increasing amount of software tests in various environments has definitely led to a lack of environment and data for the tests.

In fields like the Internet of Things, devices with different software systems are in need of different environments in which they can be tested.

To tackle this scarcity, it is anticipated to see the usage of more test environments that are cloud-based. Software Testing Trends keeps on changing every year and this year IoT is going to play a critical role in that.

There is a lack of test data as well which can be solved by integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning which can easily generate test data.

PWA Testing

Progressive Web Apps or PWA is a software that lets users use the applications that are based on Google’s PWA even when offline.

With this framework, users do not need to waste their phone memory. They can get access to those applications as a form of a web application.

Web apps have a very fast loading time along with push notifications that ultimately results in better user engagement.

Although there are a lot of benefits of using PWA, they primarily rely on web browsers that are relatively modern. Users might face some difficulties while using PWA in web browsers that are old.

Hence, PWA testing is a rather important one, considering PWA having the potential to replace more than half of the mobile app market.

This Software Testing Technology will ensure that the Progressive Web Apps are working accurately and efficiently even in much older web browsers. It will also test the web apps’ functionality in mobile browsers as well as desktop browsers.

Companies like Twitter, Pinterest, and Alibaba Express already have their own PWAs and more organizations will soon follow.

Shift-Left Testing

Developers will save a lot of time and resources if the defects and bugs in their code are identified early on.

Instead of compiling the whole code at once and then beginning the tedious process of debugging each incorrect code, shift-left testing is an Emerging Technologies in Software Testing that helps coders find bugs during the early lifecycle.

Organizations have started using DevOps to practice this Software Testing Technology of shift-less testing in order to gain more insights and incorporate that into the product to make it more appealing to the users. These are the Latest Trends in Software Testing.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment in DevOps helps developers make all the necessary changes in the code and then deliver it to the production environment.

With the amalgamation of DevOps and Continuous Deployment, the trend will see an increase in automation and cloud-based texting.

Automation testing will show an impressive growth as more focus is given on the shift-left testing process, integration of DevOps and Continuous Deployment as well as the emergence of QAOps.

Selenium 4

Since its first release in 2004 as Selenium Core, Selenium tools have come a long way. The latest version, Selenium 4.0, has a lot of beneficial features that can have a huge impact on the automation industry and its software is one of the Latest in Software Testing Technology.

Earlier we talked about PWA and how most companies are turning to these applications to connect better with the users.

Thus, PWA testing is highly advised for businesses that want to be inclusive customers using outdated browsers or modern browsers. But what about different kinds of browsers?

Be it Google Chrome, or Firefox browsers, or even Safari, cross-browser testing ensures that no matter which browser the user is using, they always have superior customer satisfaction while using the web applications.

The 4.0 version of Selenium is a boon to the Software Testing Industry as it supports several kinds of browsers with different devices and operating systems for automation.

Selenium can be integrated with other software such as TestNG which will then be able to perform multi-browser automation tests.

Hence, Selenium 4 will efficiently show companies how their Web applications will look in various web browsers.

Voice Assisted Technology

A lot of mobile applications as well as smart speakers have voice-activated technologies that are easily accessible by the users without having to open the apps or picking the phone up.

Applications and devices are able to perform a lot of tasks with the help of simple voice commands.

But often it is noticed that the commands are not interpreted properly by the software due to a difference in dialects or just background noises. This can lead to customer frustration and can affect brand loyalties.

Appropriate voice testing will promote user satisfaction and also improve their trust in the security and assurance in these kinds of technologies.

Software Testing News revealed that testing of these voice-operated technologies will be quite tricky as a number of things have to be taken into account during the testing.

For instance how each word pronounced in different dialects and how the application software can cancel out background noise.

Connectivity: A New Way Of Life

Organizations are digitizing all communicative channels with the embarkment of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

As a result, businesses are now able to cater to customers that are more digitally-oriented. This also calls for connectivity within these channels to be unhindered.

The Internet of Things makes this connectivity between the complete connected web possible. It is estimated that by the end of this decade, as many as 500 billion IoT devices will be interconnected with each other, and to facilitate this kind of connection, over 50 billion connections will be made.

Hence, an industry this big surely needs some kind of testing before the final products deployed into the market. IoT testing ensures the connectivity of the web flows smoothly without any obstructions. This is one of the Latest Trends In Software Testing.

More Data, Better Data

Collection of more data helps with the processing of test creation within frameworks and their algorithms. With more test data, Quality Assurance will have way more insight to better the development of the applications.

With the huge amount of data about user actions, behavioral details, and much more, QA teams need to be more particular about storing and organizing this data in order to prevent cybersecurity mishaps.

Criteria such as consistency, validity, and accuracy held against the data to sieve the useless from the important data.

Testing Centers Of Excellence

A standard testing center of excellence will benefit organizations in massive ways. Businesses can implement New Technology in Software Testing without wasting any time. The creation of a TCoE is among the Latest Testing Trends because of its efficiency.

With the help of testing, the center team put together to develop frameworks suitable for reusable testing, deployment of high-quality products as well as the workflow will be much faster.

The testing time of the products is lower as you create standard quality assurance practices to reuse for every product of that business.

The Testing Centers Of Excellence team can also watch out for every Innovation in Software Testing to stay at par with the market needs.

Using Open-Source Tools

You might have noticed that the above trends emphasize more on the experimental and innovative aspects of software testing.

Using open-source tools is one such example of the Latest Trends in Software Testing that focus on the unprecedented and personalized factors of the testing domain.

After all, if the QA team cannot view or make changes to the source code, what is the point of software testing?

Thus, open-source tools take up this opportunity and encourage further cooperation among all the teams involved in developing software and increase more educational chances. Tools such as Selenium and Appium already exist to back up this methodology.

SaaS Testing

The Software Testing News focuses on testing of applications made by SaaS. Due to its low cost and higher scalability, SaaS, or Software as a Service is one of the most popular platforms to develop an application.

With higher usage of this platform comes higher risks of defects in the app.

Hence, the Latest Trends in Software Testing include a dedicated SaaS testing domain. SaaS testing procedures ensure that the applications built using this platform function efficiently.

Quality Engineering To Replace Quality Assurance

With recent Innovation in Software Testing,  more emphasis is on quality engineering than quality assurance.

While the quality assurance team merely assures the quality of the said product, a complete quality engineering team will not only assure but work towards the development of the quality of the product.

The Latest Trends in Software Testing involves the integration of DevOps and Agile processes in Quality Engineering to ensure better customer satisfaction, optimum utilization, and minimal wastage of the resources.

Software Quality: Cross-Functional Goal

The software quality should be a cross-functional goal according to the Software Testing News as well as the current trends of the Software Testing Industry.

Integrating software quality tests will enhance the user approval rate as well as save the application from any unprepared disaster.

Load Testing

Load Testing is non-functional testing to recognize how the application will behave under a particular amount of load.

This kind of testing reveals how an app will perform normally and how it will perform during its peak moments of user activity.

Harikrishna Kundariya

CEO, eSparkBiz

Harikrishna Kundariya, a marketer, developer, IoT, chatbot and blockchain savvy, designer, co-founder, Director of eSparkBiz @Software Development Company where you can Hire Software Developers. His 14+ experience enables him to provide digital solutions to new start-ups based on Web app development.