Top 5 Software Testing Trends of 2020

If you’re an organization undergoing a digital transformation, ensure you’re staying competitive with these future-driven approaches to QA and software testing.

During 2019, we saw many advancements in software testing. The transformation from Quality Assurance to Quality Engineering took over. BDD bridged the gap between business and the technical teams allowing collaboration to thrive. Testers across the globe felt the importance of Artificial Intelligence tools to reduce the test automation cycle time.

Now it’s time to look at the future. How are software testing and quality assurance evolving? Here are 5 software testing trends to adopt and stay competitive in this ever-evolving market.

1. QAOps / DevTestOps

In 2020, many DevOps organizations will continue to adopt DevTestOps because of the proven benefits of collaboration between testers and development.

DevTestOps trended in 2019 and will continue to 2020. In DevTestOps, Quality Assurance and Operations teams collaborate and work together to deliver a quality product. DevTestOps aims to improve software quality and deliver highly stable applications. This can be achieved by adopting the right kind of test automation strategies.

The components of a DevTestOps framework have to be defined very well so that it runs tests that are productive. The tests should be executed fast and in parallel to ensure there are no unclear results.

2. Exploratory Testing

Many organizations are already adopting Exploratory Testing in order to diversify their testing strategy and discover more unexpected discrepancies to their code and product.  

Exploratory Testing does not predefine test cases, instead they are done intuitively while testing. With this approach, testers have a predefined goal, set a time limit, and dynamically explore the application in search of bugs and code discrepancies.

You’ll find Exploratory Testing most useful when there is little requirements documentation. You’ll also be able to explore new testing scenarios which do not come up while initially drafting tests. The major challenge with this kind of approach is that testers should have good domain knowledge.

3. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning

Approaches to AI/ML vary from Visual Testing to self-healing frameworks. Visual testing helps testers write fewer tests for UI and covers functional testing when used properly. On the other hand, self-healing AI heals issues in test scripts, minimizing the maintenance and cost of creating automated tests. 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning continue to gain speed in 2020 as new tools emerge and evolve. Companies who incorporate AI/ML into their test management will see improvements in the way testers do their work because there is a continuous feedback loop.

4. Codeless Automation

The traditional way of writing automated tests consumes time and requires coding skills. As a solution, codeless automation tools like IDE’s (integrated development environment) consolidate the tools required to write and test software, and essentially write the tests for you. Recently, IDE tools like Selenium IDE and Katalon Recorder have advanced new features like self-diagnosing locators, advanced plugin integration, data-driven ability, and conditional steps. Using these functions, testers can write automated tests logically without having coding knowledge. 

Business testers will be the main users of these tools as they have less technical skills and the tools allow them to write automated tests logically without having to code. Even more, IDE’s now have the ability to plug into the CI/CD pipeline, making them DevOps friendly.

5. Risk Compliance and Cyber Security

End users want to know that the products they’re using are highly stable and secure against data breach and theft, so risk compliance and cyber security are top priorities for all companies. With security testing, vendors can gain the trust of end users ensuring their data is protected.

The Banking and Insurance Sectors prioritize security testing to avoid threats like ransomware and other attacks.

Increasingly, development teams perform a shift-left approach for security and use security tools to check for vulnerabilities in the code during deployments through pipelines. They also check whether the programming language standards are followed, ensuring maximum security against attacks.

Ensure maximum ROI for your QA costs

2020 predicts that software testing will continue to evolve in order to maximize efforts and reduce the costs of testing. How do you stay up to speed?

Adopt a culture of QAOps to increase collaboration. Try Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Codeless Automation tools to optimize your resources. Give enough time for testers to perform Exploratory Testing and test the application from the domain level. Finally, incorporate more Cyber Security Testing to build trust among your customers and protect your brand from exploits and breaches. 

How is your organization approaching QA and Software Testing in 2020? Let us know in the comments below.

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Author Bio

Giridhar Rajkumar has 10+ years of experience in the IT industry. He’s worked with multiple customers in the UK, EU, India and Latin America for successful transformations in Test Automation & DevOps. He is an author, speaker and successful Instructor in Test Automation and DevOps concepts.