Automation Testing Trends

Testing is crucial to ensure that the quality of the software is maintained and it must be carried out regularly, at designated check points, to enhance adherence to specifications as well as to make timely corrections in case of any deviations observed. Manual testing was a tedious task and with the advent of technology, automation has taken precedence in recent years to facilitate the process of testing and make it quicker, efficient and re-usable. Automation testing software can enter test data into the System Under Test, compare planned and actual performance, and produce thorough test reports. Having had prior experience in the area and due to my interest in Information Systems, through this article, I would like to draw your attention towards some new trends that are likely to come up:

1. Hyper automation: Due to the Covid19 pandemic, as more platforms are being created virtually, automation of testing must also accelerate to match up to the speed. Disruptive technologies like Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) using Artificial Intelligence (AI) are slowly gaining momentum and are expected to drive test automation suites to save costs as well as time spent on test activities. Hyper automation is a core technology for digital twin creation which is being largely used by various industries like automobiles, electronics etc. and it is expected to have a significant impact on the testing of underlying software as well.

2. DevTestOps: DevOps is based on Agile methodology and consists of a group of activities that combines IT operations and software creation. It aims to shorten the life cycle of system creation and provide high software quality for continuous delivery. For the maintenance of quality, especially in live environments, tests are carried out in DevOps projects rigorously and at high speeds. DevTestOps uses this aspect and is focused on keeping production system changes to be made at high quality with minimal disruption and delays. Tools used for testing, process efficiency and improvements for the overall testing function are key areas that DevTestOps is likely to make an impact on.

3. UX testing: User Experience (UX) is a hot topic for most web developers as it determines the future of their business, especially for firms that function largely online. UX testing is an emerging area to find the issues, abnormalities, expectations and user-friendliness of not just web pages but also of mobile applications which are gaining more importance than their web versions. Aesthetics and performance are important to retain users who are potential customers as well as to encourage existing customers to use new features, options and other components on the websites. Bots are being employed for UX testing by some companies and this trend is likely to stay as more human inputs can be combined with machine-based testing of website analytics.

4. Voice technology testing: Voice based searches using virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Echo are increasing and the correct functionality must be accessed to improve their usage and suggestions made. This creates a need for testing to ensure that competing virtual assistance and voice-based platforms can differentiate from each other and provide superior quality. Automation is important to handle the large amount of voice data that is present and to test the variety of available recordings, subsequent commands and actual actions that follow. Privacy aspects must also be considered during voice recording testing apart from the key issue of processing the sounds to remove dialect variations, tone, speed of speech etc. An entirely new test automation framework is required for this purpose and some organizations are working towards the creation of such platforms, especially for mobile applications.

5. Internet of Things (IoT) Test Automation: IoT is being used by most people in the form of sensors and actuators for consumer electronics and in industries for smart factories, predictive machine maintenance and logistics management on a large scale as Industrial IoT (IIoT). With 5G spectrum auctions and the promise of high-speed internet, 2021 is likely to have a shoot up in the IoT devices segment. Application testing for IoT devices must be automated to improve test coverage and prevent defects as early as possible. The time to market can be reduced for IoT products with accelerated testing while handling Big Data generated from devices as well as IoT specific protocols like Zigbee, MQTT, CoAP, XMPP and so on. As IoT largely uses Microservices architecture for its functioning, separate testing of each module can be carried out to improve scalability and reduce complexity by developing specific test suites for different applications and interfaces.

6. Codeless testing: As the need for repetitive testing and accelerated large-scale quality checks of software has become commonplace, the reliance on codeless ready-to-use test cases using tools like TOSCA, test.ai etc. will increase. Testing can become less complicated with automation being made possible even by individuals with limited programming knowledge. Codeless testing also helps in reducing the time spent on reviews of syntax and accuracy of test scripts. It is highly cost-effective and existing resources can be employed to perform tests without having to train or upgrade their programming knowledge or making them familiar with complex test environments, which can lead to efficient resource utilization.