Top 11 Current Trends in Software Testing for 2023

Software testing has been a rapidly developing field ever since business teams started acknowledging the role of usability, security, and error-free functionality in customer acquisition and lead generation. The introduction of new testing automation tools to the market makes the process cheaper, faster, and more accessible.

The future of software testing implies increased versatility and automation. Here are the top 10 software testing trends that determine how the industry will change by the end of the year. 

Table of Contents:

1. Trend #1. The growing impact of DevOps
2. Trend #2. Artificial Intelligence in Software Testing
3. Trend #3. More data, better data
4. Trend #4. Emerging IoT testing market
5. Trend #5. Testing Centers of Excellence
6. Trend #6. Using open-source tools is a go-to practice
7. Trend #7. The growing importance of security testing
8. Trend #8. Performance testing is the priority
9. Trend #9. More tools for APIs and Service Testing
10. Trend #10. Testing becomes behavior-driven
11. Software Testing with PFLB

Trend #1. The growing impact of DevOps

DevOps is a set of practices that involves all project stakeholders and tech specialists in the delivery process until the user accepts the final project. The approach presumes a high level of interconnectivity and agility within the team — it looks like it will be one of the new trends in software testing in 2020 and beyond. 

According to Google’s State of DevOps, the number of teams adopting the framework has grown from 16% in 2014 to 27% in 2019. 

The growing popularity of DevOps practices and its emergence as one of software testing trends 2020 means that QA teams need to switch to the approach to stay competitive and be able to work synchronously with the development team. 

Trend #2. Artificial Intelligence in Software Testing

Software testing can benefit a great deal from AI/ML integration. As is, automation is a go-to practice for almost every testing activity — the introduction of self-learning algorithms will take the mechanization of testing to a new level.

Here are the most promising applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in software testing:

• Building and automating test suites. AI tools can help QA teams design tests from scratch with little-to-no human supervision. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help to update existing testing suites, removing redundant cases. 
• Increase test coverage. Advanced new technology in software testing and data science will assist QA teams in building a requirement traceability matrix and choosing relevant keywords for them. 
• Predictive analytics — forecasting potential challenges and issues based on user behavior will allow development and testing teams to mitigate risks before they manifest in the software.
• Bug tracking — AI and machine learning can improve the precision of error identification and tracking. 

Trend #3. More Data – Better Data

The development of data science creates multiple ways for QA teams to get test data. New frameworks and algorithms facilitate the process of test creation and increase case coverage. Using more tools for data gathering is a trend, one of the latest in software testing technology.

In 2020, testing teams will be able to obtain yet more testing data, recording user actions, and on-site behavior in detail. However, data gathering is not the main priority of the year. Instead, testing teams are looking for ways to process data efficiently and transform it into relevant insights.

Storing data requires effort and money. The more information you store — the harder it is to navigate complex databases. That’s why QA engineer teams will be extremely critical of the data they store, validating it against a set of criteria:

• Consistency;
• Accuracy;
• Completeness;
• Validity;
• Duplication. 

Trend #4. Emerging IoT Testing Market

As soon as 5G is adopted and widespread, thousands of IoT devices will be entering the market. The increase in bandwidth and network speed will improve the reliability of wearables and other Internet of Things tools.

Testers need to be ready to face the growing demand for IoT tools. This year, QA teams need to focus on ways to account for all risks and threats releasing an Internet-of-Things-based tool entails and find ways to detect and mitigate these issues.

IoT testing will mainly be focused on validating the following aspects of connected tools:

• Security;
• Usability;
• Device compatibility;
• Data integrity;
• Performance;
• Scalability. 

Trend #5. Testing Centers of Excellence

Although creating a TCoE is new among the future trends of software testing, it fits the needs of the modern tech market so well, there’s no doubt that testing centers of excellence will grow at a rapid pace. A Testing Center of Excellence is a team dedicated to developing reusable testing frameworks and standards an organization can follow when deploying every project.

Now, when teams are in dire need to work fast and efficiently, building standards is a high-quality, long-term way to improve the workflow and interdependence within the team.

Here are the main reasons why companies should establish a TCoE by the end of 2020:

• To reduce testing time without losing confidence in the product’s functionality and performance;
• To lay the groundwork for efficient testing automation;
• To create standard quality assurance practices and reuse them for every project;
• To be flexible and stay up to date with the latest trends in software testing, a TCoE will monitor software testing practices and adjust the company’s QA framework if there’s an impactful trend or innovation in software testing. 

Trend #6. Using Open-source Tools is a go-to Practice

Being able to view and edit the source code of the software is crucial for QA teams since customization can help teams work efficiently, create a smooth learning curve for new testers, and cater to the needs of the project with more precision.

Open-source tools promote collaboration within the testing community and give new education opportunities. In 2020, software testing will become more personalized, innovative, and experimental — open-source adoption is a crucial part of software testing market trends.

Dozens of open-source tools are already acknowledged by the community:

• Selenium;
• Robotium;
• Selendroid;
• JMeter;
• Appium.

There’s no doubt that more open-source testing platforms will see the world as soon as the end of the year — testing teams need to take advantage of these software testing industry trends. 

Trend #7. The Growing Importance of Security Testing

Company managers have become highly aware of security threats in the last two years. Ensuring the safety of data storage, network, and servers will be a priority for business owners — thus, security testing will get even bigger this year. By 2021, the security testing market value is expected to be at $7.6 billion.

The increased adoption of connected devices will create new security threats that need to be detected and neutralized on time. Similarly, the development of digital assets increases the need for protected data storage. Cloud-based solutions offer security testers a unique range of tasks and risks to account for.

The digitization of third-world countries will create new markets for security practices adoption, as well as new drivers of cyber threats business owners need to be aware of. All of the above speaks in favor of security testing dominance by the end of 2020. 

Trend #8. Performance Testing is the Priority

Rather than executing multiple scripts to validate the functionality of the system feature-by-feature, teams will see projects as a whole. Ensuring high usability, security, and flawless hardware-software integration will be among the chief QA goals for 2020. 

Since most businesses release websites or apps with international scalability in mind, ensuring the accessibility of the tool on all systems and in countries with low network connection speed is crucial. Other than that, business owners have already discovered that poor performance leads to low customer satisfaction, reduced productivity within the team, and high reputational losses. 

Trend #9. More Tools for APIs and Service Testing

Recognizing the importance of APIs is a relatively recent development in tech. Considering that these components are reusable and can be implemented in multiple projects, it makes sense to test APIs thoroughly.

By the end of this and next year, QA teams will likely get more API-specific platforms, with all the needed tools for testing automation. It’s likely that API and service testing automation, as one of the latest software testing trends, will develop more rapidly than that of functional and performance tests. 

Trend #10. Testing becomes Behavior-Driven

Behavior-driven development has been one of the most impactful software development and current software testing trends over the last five years. According to VersionOne’s “The State of Agile” report, 16% of companies already employ the approach. As artificial intelligence and machine learning goes mainstream, the number of companies adopting BDD is going to grow.

Testing teams will need to adapt to behavior-driven development, implement BDD tools and frameworks, and build cases based on visitors’ interactions with the website. In the future, behavior-driven testing will become a valuable source of insights and give business owners more confidence in terms of user acceptance. 

Software Testing with PFLB

To make the most out of new software testing technologies and software testing trends, reach out to PFLB — a team of professional QA specialists who are always tracking new best practices and adapting to industry changes.

Here’s why you should choose PFLB for testing both small- and large-scale software projects:

• We are skilled in desktop, web, application, API, and other types of testing;
• We use assistive tools to create an efficient testing process — HP Application Lifecycle Management, JMeter, IBM Rational Performance Tester, Grinder, and others;
• We are experienced in testing projects that run on Oracle DB, MS SQL servers, terminals, and IP TV;
• We’ve tested multiple enterprise products — SAP, SAS, Oracle e-Business Suite projects, Core Banking systems, retail, and POS platforms.
• We handle cross-platform testing projects on Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, Solaris, Red Hat Enterprise Linux;
• We are well-versed in the most common project management methodologies — DevOps, continuous integration, behavior-driven testing, model-driven testing, and others.

Take a look at our portfolio to see the projects our testing team helped bring to the market. If you want to build an error-free solution — contact us. PFLB will help you pinpoint and fix every single system defect and keep end-users happy with the software.