The state of software testing is always evolving due to the rapid development of new technological solutions and digital tools. You have chances to improve the effectiveness and quality of your software testing as testing automation capabilities advance with technology.  

 The use of test automation is becoming more and more widespread worldwide. Do you realise how important automation is? The most obvious explanation for this is that software programmes are always developing, and the apps that are available today are very different from those that were available in the past. The market’s demand for applications to rethink and broaden their capabilities through frequent app updates is rising.  

In the field of software testing, test automation has shown to be revolutionary, opening up previously uncharted testing areas. Newer test automation software is helping businesses cut the cost of software testing, and automation testing solutions have increased test coverage and efficiency.  

For the majority of organisations, maintaining the pace of change is challenging. We’ve produced a thorough guide to software testing automation in 2022 and beyond to help you make sure your testing strategy is in line with the newest technologies and trends. 

 1. Software Testing Trends for 2022 

1.1 Test automation is replacing manual testing. 

In 2022, the long-standing trend of moving from manual to automated testing will continue, and many companies are now stepping up their efforts by implementing cutting-edge new tools. The main benefit of using automation is that it enables you to perform more testing in a shorter amount of time. Clearly, this is a major factor in higher productivity and enables you to cut costs.  

Although manual testing won’t be going away any time soon, implementing automated methods in the appropriate situations will assist increase productivity, improve test coverage, and speed up the release of the software. 

1.2 Continuous Testing 

Another trend that is becoming more popular in the present software testing environment is continuous testing, which is being adopted as a result of automation. 

In general, continuous testing is carried out by either: 

• Several agile teams are supported by an internal quality assurance (QA) team. 
• QA specialists working as part of a feature team.

Whether it is a weekly or monthly release cadence, these testers can aid in maintaining and accelerating it.  

You run a high risk of releasing bugs into production if you use a weekly or monthly release cadence without the support of automation technologies for your testing operations. Continuous testing can speed up the feedback process and accelerate innovation. 

1.3 Shift-Left Testing 

Most importantly with API, performance, and accessibility testing, many organisations are moving their testing further to the left toward non-functional testing.  

Shift-left testing is essential for successful functional testing, but it also enables you to shorten some of the testing process’ more time-consuming elements. Here are a few benefits:  

• It adheres to the DevOps and agile principles. 
• It offers cost savings so that problems can be found sooner. 
• Maintaining code and quality is simpler. 
• It begins earlier and covers more functional and non-functional topics.

Today, a significant number of businesses wait until the end of each sprint to conduct performance, accessibility, or security testing. And to make matters worse, some testers only address these issues after something has gone wrong. 

 Shift-left testing gives you a method to include various tests in the sprints themselves, resulting in a testing cycle that is much more productive. 

1.4 Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) 

Another well-liked strategy is behaviour-driven development (BDD), which many testers are starting to use because of its advantages. BDD provides a business-focused viewpoint and has a reputation for encouraging improved teamwork across departments.  

The organisations leading the charge appear to be utilising BDD solutions to help them increase their testing output as more automation technologies are brought into release cycles.  You’ll probably see faster and easier-to-digest input moving between your testing team and your other stakeholders if you integrate BDD into your continuous testing operations. 

1.5 Ensure that mobile testing is a top priority. 

Mobile testing should continue to be a top focus as more software solutions than ever are being designed with mobile users in mind. As new technologies like 5G become more widely adopted, the significance of mobile testing will only increase.  

Maintaining the knowledge, resources, and best practices that enable the effective creation of mobile-first solutions is essential. 

1.6 API Security Testing 

APIs are now widely used by developers in every region and sector of the software testing business as they have quickly established themselves as the core building blocks of software. The world will be API-first in 2022 as more businesses migrate to the cloud and the number of cloud microservices rises.

In an API-first world, more individuals will need API testing tools and methods that go beyond functional testing.  Testing API security is thus a good place to start. 

1.7 Test Environments and Data 

More software systems are now running in a wider range of situations as a result of the Internet of Things’ (IoT) explosive growth. This presents a problem for the testing teams to guarantee the proper degree of test coverage. When applying to test in agile projects, the lack of test environments and data is, in fact, a major barrier.  

Offering and utilising test environments that are cloud-based and containerized will expand. Some solutions for the shortage of test data include using AI/ML to generate test data and the expansion of data initiatives. 

1.8 Integrating Tools and Activities Together 

Any testing tool that is not integrated with the other tools for application lifecycle management can be challenging to use. To effectively deploy AI/ML techniques, software teams must integrate the tools used for all development phases and activities. Only then can multi-source data be acquired.  

For instance, utilising AI/ML to determine where to focus testing requires data from the requirements, design, and implementation phases in addition to data from the testing phases. 

2. Best Practices for Test Automation  

We are aware of the several significant advantages that automation testing solutions have. So how can we make sure that our automated testing setup and execution efforts get the best results and support us in achieving our software testing goals? For automation testing in 2022, we must first follow a few essential practices.  

2.1 Implement Agile  

One of the most significant test management best practices is implementing Agile. One of the most widely used approaches for both testing and development is agile. Automation now predominates in software testing because continuous testing, as promoted by Agile, is impossible to achieve with manual testing. The following are a few of the most important benefits of an agile test management methodology.  

• Increased output is achieved. 
• Constant modifications help the product get better. 
• Concentrating on product quality is simpler. 
• It ultimately comes down to giving users real value. 
• enables the estimate of costs and due dates.

2.2 Choose What to Automate Effectively 

To achieve the best results, it is essential to choose which test cases should be automated. In addition to data-driven tests, cross-browser/cross-platform tests, smoke tests, and load tests, choose tests for stable features and regressions when contemplating automation. 

 2.3 Writing Precisely Explained Test Cases 

The clear instructions for each test case should enable testers to determine what they need to do. By giving test cases, instructions, and explanations that aren’t prone to misunderstanding, you can save time and achieve better results. 

2.4 Consider using data-driven testing 

The capacity to conduct data-driven testing is one of the most significant benefits of test automation. In data-driven testing, a test case that is automated gets input values from a data source like an Excel spreadsheet or database file. The test case is continuously repeated for every row of data in the data source. Data-driven testing has several advantages, including more effectiveness, maximum accuracy, efficient data storage, and less need for test maintenance. 

2.5 Invest in a Trustworthy Automation Testing Tool 

The most recent automation testing solutions can help you manage tests more effectively by helping you arrange test case executions properly and increase test efficiency. To put it another way, test automation software ranks highly among best practices for test management since it is designed to handle every aspect of test management, allowing you to sit back and unwind. 

 2.6 Choose to execute test cases in parallel. 

Continuous testing, as previously said, is all about performing more testing in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, utilise the parallel test case execution functionality to execute multiple test cases concurrently rather than wasting time waiting for one to run. . The following are some advantages of parallel test execution: 

•  Time to Market is shortened because concurrent execution reduces total testing time and speeds up the release of the product. 
• A higher level of test coverage because the QA team can execute more test cases in a given period of time. 
• Higher test coverage is attained as a result of the faster test execution, enabling more thorough testing of the application. 
• Since testing an application requires less time and effort, testing costs are reduced. 

2.7 Make the decision to run test cases on the cloud platform. 

Due to the scalability it provides, cloud testing using modern automation testing technologies is highly advised. 

 3. Addressing Your Testing Challenges 

3.1 Test Reliability and Fault Analysis 

Test reliability is challenging to preserve in a technological environment that is always evolving. Numerous testers are still finding it difficult to handle this important problem. Your tests could fail for a variety of reasons, but the following are the most prevalent ones:  

• environmental issues 
• issues with the test 
• Issues with the test results 
• actual bugs 

 3.2 Increase test reliability by:  

• By using techniques like static testing, you can make sure the requirements are fully understood. 
• Make sure that parameters may be configured so they are simple to maintain. 
• Take up test data management techniques like refreshing, archiving, and sanitising. 
• Testing after hours and finding flaws sooner to stop catastrophic breakdowns later 
• Make that testing environments are up to date, fresh, and secure.

Consequently, when test reliability is an issue and you frequently have tests fail, the study of those failures is likewise a laborious procedure that reduces team productivity. Make sure you have synchronised reporting mechanisms to address this issue so you don’t have to spend more time than required determining why your tests failed. Additionally, you can employ automated tools to speed up the review and resolution procedures and offer detailed insights. 

4. Recommendations on Incorporating the Future of Testing  

4.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) 

Unsurprisingly, in 2022, an increasing number of software testers will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate and improve their testing.  

Now, if it hasn’t previously been included in your strategy, integrating AI and ML into your testing procedures should be a major goal.  

Not only will this be important to keep up with the quick-paced testing environment of today, but this technology can also assist you in the following ways:  

• Boost your processes’ effectiveness 
• Enhances the quality of your services 
• Boost accuracy and decrease mistakes 
• Spend less money and valuable time. 

AI and ML will fundamentally change the way you conduct software testing across the board, from test conception and design to test reporting. 

 4.2 Increased Test Coverage 

Additionally, we advise focusing on expanding the scope of your tests during 2022.  

We advise taking the following actions to maintain your test coverage current:  

• Use calendars to stay organised. 
• Observe current occurrences that are relevant 
• Analyse website traffic 
• Comparing coverage to previous bugs 
• Maintain your test automation suite. 
• Avoid running failed tests again without troubleshooting 
• Validate and update your test automation suites frequently.

Based on factors such as target features and platforms, regression needs, software iteration scope, stages in the CI/CD pipeline, personas, skill-sets, tools, and more, you may also distribute your test execution across the pipeline. 

4.3 Automate and Improve Your Evaluation of Test Failure 

As was already noted, tackling the infamously time-consuming process of test failure analysis is a tried-and-true technique to increase the effectiveness of your testing. Due to the enormous amounts of data involved nowadays, analysis of test failures has grown to be a challenging task.  

Your output will go along much more quickly if you use automated tools and processes to cut down on the time spent on test failure analysis. The usage of AI and ML technologies can be helpful in this situation as well, enabling you to optimise your analysis and lead to ongoing time savings in this area. 

5. Conclusion  

By 2022 and beyond, more investment will be put into automating software testing. Automation will be even more crucial for testers in the years ahead as software applications and products become more complicated. 

Automation implementation is essential if you want to keep up with the speed of the sector. It is challenging and more expensive to disregard the chances and advantages that come with eliminating manual testing processes. Organisations that are now leading the benchmark for software quality engineering and assurance globally have these trends at the top of their priority lists. 

 6. How TestDel can assist you with Automation Testing?  

TestDel assist you in determining the best technique, tooling, and skills required to successfully develop a test automation plan in order to support your Agile and DevOps adoption. Many projects have been saved from failure because to our software test automation approach, which addresses QA bottlenecks at breakneck speed. We offer: 

• Web App Test Automation 
• Mobile App Test Automation 
• Desktop App Test Automation 
• Continuous Testing 
• Performance and Load Testing 
• API Testing

A good test automation solution can reduce the need for manual testing. Get your project estimate today! Utilize a leading test automation solution to boost performance. Phone us now!  

Please contact TestDel if you have any inquiries.