10 Test Automation Trends in 2023

As per the latest report by GMinsights, Automation Testing is valued at USD 20B and is expected to exhibit 15% CAGR between 2023 and 2032. 

This rise is due to the rapid adoption of advanced technologies among enterprises. With software being the primary interface between developers and customers, the focus on software quality is increasing. Also, the need to deliver high-quality, bug-free products in ever-accelerating cycles puts pressure on software teams.  Hence, software testing has to apply new methods to keep pace. 

Here’s a list of the top 10 testing strategies to look out for in 2023 and more for the future of automation testing.

QAOps

One of the growing trends in software testing is QAOps – a combination of Quality Assurance and IT operations. QAOps utilizes a DevOps-based approach to achieve high-quality software.

In other words, QAOps takes the core ideas from continuous testing in DevOps, such as CI/CD, and brings teams together to work on the pipeline. QAOps framework integrates the QA processes, Automation, and QA Reporting with the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process. In this approach, the Operations team mainly communicates and collaborates with the QA team to ensure the Continuous Delivery of products. The main purpose here is to ensure the quality of the application in terms of its performance, scalability, functionality, security, and usability, among others.

Some benefits of QAOps include:

• Provides constant learning, thus, increasing productivity and efficiency thereby, decreasing the client’s costs
• Provides a collaborative relationship between the QA, Dev, and Operations Team
• Helps fix the bugs faster and releases the product earlier than expected. This provides a reliable product
• Better customer experience as it ensures better quality and performance of the product.

Scriptless Automation Testing

Scriptless Automation Testing provides a powerful interface for developing automation suites without writing any scripts. Thus, testers and developers can automate test cases using tools without thinking about coding. These tools record the tester’s actions while navigating the software to generate different tests required for different features. Developers can use different testing tools equipped with unique features for UI testing, end to end testing, among others. Based on test frameworks, the tools offer a lot of flexibility and generate reusable test cases.

Some benefits of Scriptless Automation Testing include:

• Significant reduction in the cost of automation, hence, a good ROI
• Requires little effort in setting up and getting started
• Offers more flexibility for reusing test cases in different scenarios
• Helps in accelerating Quality delivery

Some examples of Scriptless Testing tools are Selenium IDE, TOSCA, etc.

Headless Browser Testing

Headless, as the name suggests, means a Web Browser without a User Interface. To elaborate, Headless Browser is just like any other browser, with the only difference being that nothing is visible on the screen. Here, the program actually runs in the background and you can keep track of it with the help of a Console or command-line interface. Thus, it is known to be the one without a Head/GUI.

With headless browser testing, end-to-end tests are performed without the browser loading the user interface of the application. Therefore, the tests interact with the page directly, eliminating any chances of instability and making everything run faster. Thus, testing not only becomes more reliable, faster, and more efficient, but it becomes more effective. Headless browser testing creates new opportunities by adopting the “shift-left” design thinking and moving toward integrating Quality Assurance (QA) into the software delivery process (what’s referred to as “QAOps”).

Some benefits of Headless Browser Testing include

• Improved speed and performance
• Allows efficient testing in a browser-less setup
• Helps in multi-tasking
• Saves time since unit testing is not required

Shift Left Testing

The Shift Left testing movement is about pushing testing toward the early stages of the Software Development Life Cycle. By testing early and often, an organization can build high-quality code, eliminate code-patching, facilitate proactive collaboration, and save time and money. In practice, this means more unit testing to catch problems when they are introduced.

Some benefits of Shift-Left Testing include:

• Lower costs – bugs detected earlier are cheaper to fix
• Increased efficiency in SDLC
• Improved product quality
• Reduced time to market since the QA process doesn’t take as much time

Microservices Testing

Microservices testing is becoming a central part of the Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. This testing trend may be the next big thing in terms of its reusability and flexibility.

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Microservices architecture allows development teams to create a product as a suite of small autonomous services formed around a particular business domain. When testing, teams can test each service and its functional pieces individually and monitor the ongoing performance. Microservices can be incorporated into a DevOps environment and help decrease the risk of falls in business applications.

Some benefits of Microservices Testing include:

• Improved scalability and data security
• Improved fault toleration
• Simpler to deploy
• Reusability across different business areas
• Faster time to market

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Testing

Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning use predictive models to identify the different features for testing and prepare specific test plans without any human support. Therefore, automation testing teams can leverage AI and ML to improve their testing strategies. 

Test suites can be optimized by eliminating unneeded test cases and ensuring optimal test coverage is done by inspecting keywords. With AI and ML, much data can be analyzed, test cases can be reused, and detailed test reports can be generated. Even though humans can’t predict customer behavior, ML-enabled analytics can help by detecting unexplored sections. The insights can then be used to predict likely outcomes with the help of historical data.

Some benefits of AI/ML Testing include

• Improved accuracy and speed due to AI-based testing methodologies.
• Faster test case creation.
• Faster time to market.

Blockchain Testing

Blockchain is one of the most sought-after technologies in the world due to the rise of ledger-based technology. Its use cases are mind-blowing – from securing financial transactions to safely sharing enterprise data. Blockchain testing aims to check the security and reliability of the shared ledger system that connects different blocks. These blocks can contain different software applications with a specific node in a group. Besides security, blockchain testing also covers the load capacity and scalability of blockchain databases and ledgers. It follows an agile development methodologies, but for testing, it follows the Shift left approach.

Some benefits of Blockchain Testing include

• It eliminates defects in a decentralized ledger.
• It helps with validating all the different entities of the system.
• It ensures that the developed blockchain ecosystem is functioning as expected.
• It helps organizations build and use blockchain technology and the connected infrastructure securely.

Some popular tools include Ethereum tester, BitcoinJ, Truffle, etc.

Geolocation Testing

Geolocation is a technique that uses data collected from a computer or mobile device to identify the user’s real physical location. Geolocation allows any Internet-connected device to get all kinds of information in real time and pinpoint the user’s location at any given period. Geolocation testing refers to evaluating the geolocation capabilities of these computers or mobile applications.

As the rules across different locations are inconsistent, web developers must ensure that they build apps and websites in compliance with local regulations so that their customers do not encounter any legal issues. There also may be situations where an application relies entirely on geolocation. Therefore, geolocation testing becomes essential to ensure all such scenarios are executed correctly.

Some benefits of Geolocation Testing include

• Verifies application’s efficiency and performance across different geographical locations
• Increased productivity.

Some tools to perform Geo-location testing include BrowserStack, Google Chrome Developer Tools, etc.

Try GeoLocation Testing

Camera Image Injection Testing

Camera Image Injection, or camera mocking, enables you to test image capture and QR/Bar code scanning from a mobile device camera. It then allows you to test your mobile app’s camera-based functionality such as check scanning, profile image capture, and QR / Bar code scanning, and deliver the best possible user experience. 

Sensor Instrumentation supports your app’s integration with various mobile sensors like Camera or biometric authentication. For image injection to work, the application to test must be installed with sensor instrumentation enabled.

Source

Biometric Authentication Testing

Bio Authentication or Biometric Authentication is becoming popular for many purposes, including network logon, to provide a high-quality mobile application user experience. It involves using some part of your physical makeup to authenticate you. This could be a fingerprint, an iris scan, a retina scan, or some other physical characteristic. 

By allowing customers to sign into their apps or authenticate their transactions by validating their biometric data, leading banks and other enterprises are providing mobile experiences that are both convenient and secure. It should therefore be no surprise that biometric validation will become increasingly important to mobile application testing. In the future, there can be an increase in scenarios involving not just one, but two forms of biometric validation. Hence, teams will need to test these biometric validations at scale, both manually and in automation, to achieve a high level of CI/CD.

Some benefits of BioAuthentication Testing include:

• Faster than entering a PIN or password
• Unique and Secure
• Provides precise and accurate identification and access

As technology evolves, Businesses must be aware of the test automation trends in 2023 that will impact the future of testing. To stay relevant in the software testing industry, testers must understand these trends and incorporate these technologies in day-to-day testing activities. With these trends, businesses can expect an increased ROI from software testing activities. Therefore, leveraging these test automation trends will help test more software in more ways and less time.