Software testing has become a crucial part of software development, driven by the increasing amount, complexity, and speed of data flow. The trend is shifting towards non-functional testing, including API, performance, security, and accessibility testing, which is a major shift for organizations. The emergence of progressive web apps, Flutter and React Native has added a new level of complexity to applications, requiring them to adhere to accessibility standards across all platforms to be successful.
AI/ML-based testing is expected to become increasingly popular, allowing additional team members to participate in testing to resolve the shortage of test specialists. Automated testing is gradually replacing manual testing, enabling more tests to be run in less time, increasing test coverage and reducing human error. However, manual and exploratory testing are still necessary, especially for test cases that are brittle, seldom run, or too expensive to automate.
Organizations need to focus on improving test stability while expanding test coverage. Fresh approaches, such as adopting cutting-edge technologies, can help achieve this goal. Open-source test automation frameworks have undergone substantial changes to improve coverage and stability, with more sophisticated features added to web application testing frameworks such as network control, API testing, low-code recording capabilities, multi-tab automation, Selenium, Playwright, and Cypress.
Testing for behavior-driven development (BDD) is increasing because it focuses more on business than technology. BDD practice involves writing tests first, which encourages greater test coverage and develops acceptance tests. Many BDD adopters use a CI/CD pipeline and frequently utilize continuous test automation.
Testing is no longer seen as a bottleneck if sufficient degrees of automation and speed is achieved through parallel testing and cloud executions. Instead, testing is used to guarantee that high-quality code is produced by business goals. Teams can bridge the gap between product owners, IT operations, and development teams using this strategy.
