To realize the benefits of test automation, organizations have to take full advantage of smarter tools, according to the The World Quality Report 2020–2021. Smart tools are those that include more features based on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These, along with a proliferation of JavaScript-based testing tools, more API testing, and more emphasis on skills, are the trends to watch this year, experts say.
Here’s what your organization needs to know about the state of test automation tools.
1. The use of smart testing tools will rise
One of last year’s predictions that’s happening now is the increased use of AI and ML in testing tools to make test automation easier, said Diego Lo Giudice, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.
However, while expectations of the benefits that AI and ML in testing can bring to quality assurance remain high, and adoption is on the increase, there are few signs of significant general progress, as the World Quality Report noted:
The reason: Smart technologies will increase cost-efficiency, reduce the need for manual testing, shorten time to market, and help create and sustain continuous quality improvements, the report found.
Other benefits of AI-based test automation include reducing test creation time, boosting test coverage, increasing resiliency of testing assets, and cutting down on test maintenance efforts, said Nick Mears, product marketing manager for functional testing at Micro Focus.
Additionally, new ML techniques are being applied to determine the scope of optimal automation tests; the goal is “to reduce the exponential growth in test scripts,” according to the report.
Another new automation technique is the use of AI-based, self-healing scripts to automatically modify scripts during runtime, in case of object and page element changes, the report noted.
Although more tools are sporting AI capabilities, adoption has been limited to this point, said Malcolm Isaacs, a testing evangelist at Micro Focus. But that’s about to change.
2. JavaScript-based testing tools will proliferate
One of the most prominent trends in 2021 will be the increase of JavaScript-based testing tools, such as Jest, Cypress, Puppeteer, and Playwright, said Nikolay Advolodkin, CEO and senior test automation engineer at Ultimate QA.
This is happening because a lot of front-end web development is done with JavaScript. And when writing code in JavaScript, it is just much easier to also test that code in JavaScript, according to Advolodkin.
Another factor is the tight integration between application code and testing code, he said. “You can do things like writing unit tests or component tests in JavaScript, Advolodkin said. “But then whenever you find testing gaps that you can’t fulfill with either one of those strategies, you can start using stuff like system tests with Cypress, for example, which is just another extra tool inside of your JavaScript repository.”
3. The use of Cypress is set to expand
The use of Cypress, an end-to-end testing tool for browser-based apps, is growing in popularity because JavaScript has gained users, Advolodkin said. Another plus is Cypress’ feature set. Among other features, the tool offers browser automation, application programming interface (API) automation, and component testing for React web applications, he said.
Tools like Selenium and Puppeteer are only for browser-based front-end automation, so if you want to start doing API testing or component testing, now you have to pick up all their tools. “Cypress has all of that,” he said.
4. The need for API testing will continue to grow
Since the majority of information sharing that occurs within Internet of Things (IoT) devices is via APIs, it’s critical to test the APIs of IoT-enabled devices to ensure they’re secure, said Advolodkin.
5. NLP-based automation tools are under consideration
The QA community appears willing to consider using natural-language processing (NLP)-based automation tools. These provide benefits including scriptless automation, model-based testing, the use of plain English statements to generate scripts, and a shallower learning curve that allows different project stakeholders to contribute to automation efforts, as the The World Quality Report noted:
Forrester’s Lo Giudice said everybody talks about self-healing, but the reality is that it’s not there yet.
6. Expect more emphasis on skills than tools
Although there are plenty of tools on the market, the trend is going to be less on tools and more on people just skilling themselves up because they want to be marketable, said Michael Fritzius, president of Arch DevOps.
Rather than being the people developing the actual tests, they’ll be overseeing and guiding teams about how to do it properly. “So they’re going to try to do what they can to make it on their own,” Fritzius said. “It’s skilling yourself up to write software, mainly.”
7. The adoption of commercial tools will slow
Adoption of commercial tools won’t pick up until next year at the earliest, as a result of the investment involved, said Fritzius.”It takes a lot of time and money.” Tools, on average, run at least $250,000. And then you have to learn it and change the processes to integrate the tool into their system, he noted.
It’s going take a while for companies to be willing to really risk that much money to improve their processes, “knowing that it might take a while for us to see a result on that.”
8. Fragmentation in test automation tools will continue
There will continue to be fragmentation in the test automation landscape throughout 2021 and likely into 2022, said Paul Grizzaffi, principal automation architect at Magenic.
Although there are different technologies, frameworks and stacks coming out, they are generally attached to one browser or API.
Forrester’s Lo Giudice said that companies prefer integrated platforms over best-of-breed testing tools.
Testing has many aspects—unit testing, functional testing, performance, load, security, integration testing, test data management, API testing, he said.
https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/test-automation-tools-8-trends-techniques-watch