11 software testing trends for 2024

Businesses are increasingly leveraging advanced software solutions to solve their operational inefficacies—but with more complex software solutions, faster time to market is a challenge. In a situation like this, an automated software testing strategy with the best possible coverage can be a game-changer.

Here's a quick look at the top 11 testing trends we're forecasting for 2024:

Low-code/no-code test automation

You may have seen the terms "low-code," "no-code," and "scriptless" automation catching on in the testing world. With scriptless test automation, quality assurance is no longer limited to the coding knowledge of testers, which frees them up to focus on innovative tasks. Codeless testing improves coverage and reduces time to market.

API test automation

The market size of global microservices architecture is expected to grow. In a microservices architecture, the various components are connected by APIs. While microservices architecture is fast paced and highly scalable, APIs are risk prone, which is why test automation practices are essential to validate API quality.

AI and ML in testing

We all witnessed how AI-powered language models took the world by storm in 2023, with coders beginning to unleash their potential. Similarly, artificial intelligence and machine learning can be leveraged to accelerate software testing.

QAOps

The integration of DevOps and QA, also known as QAOps, is a perspective shift towards approaching quality as the cornerstone of DevOps. QAOps breaks silos and enables cross-functional collaboration of teams to improve efficiency. Integral aspects of DevOps, like CI and CD, expedite the release of quality products in no time.

Internet of things (IoT)

Against the backdrop of AI and ML, there has been a surge in demand for IoT across industries. The future of IoT will see remarkable growth in smart wearables, digital twins, virtual assistants, predictive maintenance, patient monitoring in hospitals, autonomous vehicles, and more. These IoT devices have complex architecture and require testing to ensure that they meet accepted quality standards.

Testing Centers of Excellence (TCoE)

Businesses are churning out complex large-scale software with multi-tier functionalities, to keep up with digitization trends. In order to have an efficient self-sustaining IT ecosystem in the long run, businesses need to scale up their QA practices—and a TCoE will help them stay ahead of the curve. With test automation tools flooding the market, setting up a TCoE is key.

Infrastructure as code (IaC)

Software applications have distributed infrastructure across multiple servers, data lakes, and cloud services, so making modifications to them can prove to be dangerous. To simplify this, infrastructure is stored as code—and it's crucial to validate this vital infrastructure.

AR and VR testing

Groundbreaking immersive experiences powered by AR and VR technology feel like they've been ripped from a sci-fi movie—which is why its triumph depends on its ability to deliver a great user experience.

Robotic process automation (RPA)

RPA is a software technology that uses predefined logic to execute processes autonomously, mimicking a human. RPA testing is a niche market for test automation tools, but is expected to grow four-fold in the next few years.

Automation of mobile testing

Mobile applications today are becoming increasingly complex, with multi-tier functionalities to cater to diverse audiences—and AI-powered testing is certain to play a role in testing these applications of the future. Mobile test automation is here to stay.

Manual and automation combined

A test strategy requires both manual and automated testing in order to achieve the highest possible coverage. Testers need access to the latest tools in the market that help improve their speed and efficiency. A unified test automation tool with inbuilt test generation, test execution, bug reporting, documentation and collaborative capabilities is the need of the hour. QEngine caters to all these needs and is easy to adopt for testers with any level of technical expertise.