Without adequate QA & testing, no software product can actually serve its purpose or do what it was designed to do effectively. Experienced developers will always have their QA & testing teams caught up on the latest trends in the dynamically evolving testing sector, particularly at present times when new technologies are coming into the frame.
To keep up with competition in an evolving industry, analyzing and even foreseeing the trends could make all the difference. When it comes to mobile app and software testing, knowledge on the trends beforehand could get you great leverage when the time comes.
That said, here are a few of the most noteworthy emerging trends that will make big waves in 2018’s technology arena.
The progress of IoT
The Internet of Things is a relatively new technology, but its growth in a short span of time is nothing but astonishing. Its potential is amazing as well. The rapid growth of such a revolutionary technology forecasts big changes in 2018. This means testers have their work cut out for them.
They will have to deal with software and applications that connect devices with each other and with the internet. This brings concern as much as excitement for QA and testing professionals primarily because it’s hard to determine and establish security policies, and define testing tools, for a new technology like IoT. Nevertheless, IoT products will have to be tested for their functionality, effectiveness, and reliability. And there’s still time to prepare.
The much anticipated merging of Agile & DevOps
The general idea behind DevOps is to facilitate seamless collaboration between various departments in an IT company. Agile teams today have already started including test automation professionals. The present shift in software and mobile app development trends call for more progressive and iterative testing operations, and this is what a DevOps ecosystem essentially demands as well though continuous testing is more commonly used.
Today’s DevOps environment can benefit from test automation on every level. Testers will have more responsibilities – from verification of requirements and configuring integration toolsets to creating DevOps-compatible automation frameworks.
From what the experts are predicting, we can expect the merging of QA testers and developers very soon. This would subsequently result in faster delivery and QA, and in turn a higher ROI.
Open source tools will dominate
Technically, open source tools already have great authority in the testing industry today. This year, we witnessed a surge in the adoption of open source tools and services by companies for executing test automation and management. This could be a foreshadowing of further expansion of open source next year.
We might likely get introduced to advanced open source testing tools with reliable community support. To conclude, 2018 could very well be the year when open source finally dominates the testing sector across the globe. It’d be wise to prepare for it beforehand.
Performance engineering
This relates to mobile app development, and is one of the most anticipated trends in the digital realm. The success of a mobile app also depends on the app’s user experience. With the best UX starting to become the norm, it’s no surprise that Software/System Performance Engineering (SPE) has started replacing conventional performance testing.
This new systematic approach will be focusing on the architecture, design and implementation. This subsequently cuts the development costs while ensuring that the product meets performance requirements before its release.
Conclusion
The software development and testing industries are in for some major changes next year. Software has now more priority across the world, and the number of mobile devices keep increasing tremendously. These shifts in culture brought forth many challenges to both testers and developers to deliver tested applications that provide great user experience and functionality.
The trends mentioned above is a wake-up call for developers and testers to add to their knowledge and enhance their skill sets.
