QA Testing – Talent500 Blog

4 key principles of test automation

Posted on September 28, 2022 by supriya

Testing is an integral part of the software development lifecycle. No software can be deployed without thorough tests. Quality Assurance or QA testing is essential in software development to ensure that the code performs the function it is supposed to.

Tests can be manual or automated in software engineering. Manual testing is a resource-intensive approach that demands QA testers to create test cases or even deliberately introduce bugs in the code to evaluate the effect. It’s similar to crash testing in the automobile industry. Manual software testing is complicated and expensive, so it is often reserved for the end of the production cycle. However, testing a product at the end of production can delay the product launch by months.

A better alternative is automated software testing that allows developers to run tests as often as they want without exerting high costs. The initial investment in automation testing is writing test automation cases. There are several benefits of test automation apart from frequent testing. It gives developers continuous feedback to spot bugs and errors early on. Automated software testing improves design, code quality, and timely launches.

Principles of test automation

Test automation can be achieved in several ways, but developers must understand a few fundamental underlying principles. Familiarity with these key test automation principles will make you a better QA tester.

Entire books have been written exclusively on the topic of test automation. It’s a skill every developer needs to master at some point, and it’s better to do it sooner rather than later.

1. Test automation improves the quality

Code quality is paramount and signifies a product that can be trusted. Several metrics measure code quality in the software industry, including code coverage, number of defects, CI error rate, readability, maintainability, and test failure. Still, none of these can completely define code test quality and only provide an idea about some aspect of the code.

Test automation must improve quality. It is the primary principle of designing automated test cases. With every iteration, tests must be able to find defects before they can reach production, inform developers of underlying loopholes, and check any deviations in the system behaviour. Successful test cases show a high-level view of a project, allowing developers to try different approaches for the same functionality to find the one that works best.

2. QA testing reduces risk

Human reviewers cannot find every error within the code, no matter how many eyes go through the same code. Code review is necessary and productive, but it must be reliable too.

Another essential principle of test automation is that it reliably finds errors. Automate test cases and check the code from top to bottom comprehensively. By progressively running tests to find errors and bugs, find regressions, and check device and environment compatibility, you can bring down the risks and cost through test automation. QA testing is mandatory to ensure no risks or discrepancies exist in the code, even when the most proficient developers work on a project. Programmers might not make a mistake, but using third-party dependencies did not introduce any errors or pose a risk to the integrity of the application. Test automation can evaluate every line of code to ensure no risk.

3. Be mindful of subtle design changes that test scripts can miss

When writing test case scripts, QA engineers often focus on testing the new functionality implemented in the software but overlook the design changes. For test automation, while creating test scripts, you must proactively anticipate any design changes that might result from code changes. For instance, an update of the application code can improve its functionality. However, it can introduce colour changes in the interface that test scripts might not check if you have not included a condition to review display changes. While not a critical error, it indicates that the test automation is not entirely reliable.

4. Test automation should require low maintenance

Developers are focused on writing concise code to create products that deliver excellent customer experience and perform as expected. Test automation ensures they can work on writing code rather than fretting over repeated testing. As a QA tester, you should focus on writing test scripts that are easy to execute and maintain.

Any reliable and practical test suite will require periodic maintenance to keep it in good shape for repeated use. Here are a few tips for writing and maintaining test cases:

Tests should be enough to be effective, not more. If you notice that with a small change, test cases are breaking, you might be using too many tests and need to remove a few.

Choose the proper test depending on the situation. For instance, unit tests are laser-focused and can be deployed faster, while UI tests are comprehensive and use a lot more resources. Healthy test automation follows the test pyramid approach.

Keep tests reliable and avoid flaky tests; otherwise, your test suite can waste time and create frustration. Flaky tests fail even when the code is correct or show an error for no apparent reason.

Conclusion

Developers who think precise testing is expensive are unaware of the cost of poorly tested code. Bugs and defects in a product can quickly spiral out of control, and practical test automation is the only way to ensure it never happens. QA engineers should consider the top QA testing trends when writing test cases.

Are you looking for QA testing opportunities? Join Talent500, where you will find opportunities with fast-growing startups and Fortune 500 companies.

Necessary QA testing checklists

Posted on September 28, 2022September 28, 2022 by supriya

QA testing is essential for releasing higher-quality products, but it also ensures that the skills and resources at an organization are reliable. With successful QA testing, software development teams can ensure that they are creating products best to their potential.

A comprehensive quality assurance process has not only technical aspects but also a balance between the communication and workflows of both internal and external teams. We have created this QA testing checklist to help you with the entire QA testing process.

1. Project scope review

Every QA testing project begins with a comprehensive internal assessment of the scope and requirements of the QA process. Before starting, you must know the project parameters critical for quality assurance. Usually, you must know what elements of the testing can be automated and cannot be automated, the languages, platforms, and devices that the application needs to be tested for, and the role of each QA tester. The aim here is to properly evaluate the requirements of the QA testing and its scope to ensure it offers the maximum ROI. Project scope review also lets you anticipate the collaborative efforts needed for transparent communication.

2. Resource planning meet

QA testers, development engineers, and other stakeholders must know the testing phase’s purpose, needs, requirements, and execution plan. At this stage, you decide what test frameworks, tools, and types of QA testing will be implemented. Furthermore, the communication protocols between the internal and external teams are established during the kick-off meeting.

The balance between automated and manual testing is also determined at this step. You decide how these tests will be deployed and which component or segment of the software will be tested. When all the stakeholders agree to the shared set of metrics, you can move to the next stage, the framework design for QA testing.

3. Framework design

As a QA tester, you must have the expertise and skills to anticipate the test requirements. You will be responsible for not only selecting the tools and technologies but also designing the use scenarios and reporting processes to create a framework based on the specific requirement of the product to be tested.

The framework you will design must consider the development environment. Some critical questions to ask at this step are:

Whether you will employ a keyword-driven, data-driven, behavior-driven, or modular test framework for QA testing?
How much of the framework will be dedicated to automated testing?
How frequently will you run automated tests?
What kind of reporting mechanism will the framework utilize?
What extent of involvement will be required from developers, engineers, and other stakeholders?

Your QA testing framework architecture must address all these questions to be effective.

4. Selecting the right tools

QA test cases are designed depending on the technologies that are used to build an application and the complexity of the design. The right tools for QA testing for a particular product depend on these factors. QA engineers are tasked with selecting the right tools from the range of open-source and paid testing tools available on the market.

QA testers must pick the tools that best suit an application for the QA process to be effective. Any tool you select must have a balance of:

Platform compatibility
Versatility
Ease of maintenance
Automation scope
QA test report generation

Also, you must measure the tool’s value against the cost of licensing and support. It will help you keep the QA testing budget under check. For an efficient software testing process, test cases and defects management tools must be selected after thorough research.

5. Types of QA testing

With multiple QA testing types available, you have to select the one that tests the given software product at the highest standards. One of the dominant software testing methodologies is Agile QA testing, which requires more than one specialized QA tester to work on the testing project to produce efficiency in the process. Among the available options for QA testing, you have to choose one or more of these options:

Manual testing: It requires a human tester who emulates the role of the end-user
Automation testing: It dominantly uses test scripts that automate manual testing. Automation testing is much faster.
API testing: It is aimed at testing the functionality and reliability of programming interfaces

Learn more about QA testing trends and types here.

These three tests carry the bulk of the QA testing role. But, in some cases, you may also have to include security, performance, and accessibility testing.

Conclusion

We are sure that this QA testing checklist will assist you at every step, from initial internal planning to the final stages of test execution. As a QA tester, you must keep this checklist handy to ensure the quicker release of software products.

Talent500 is the platform that Fortune 500 companies and global startups use to build their agile QA testing teams. Join our elite pool of QA testers by signing up here.

What is an SQA plan?

Posted on September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 by bhargavi

Software quality assurance (SQA) is a method of ensuring that all software engineering processes, methods, activities and work items are monitored and conform to established standards. Standards may include ISO 9000, CMMI model, ISO15504, or a combination of these standards along with others.

SQA strives to encompass all software development processes and activities, from defining requirements, coding, debugging, and all other activities until release. As the name suggests, it focuses on preserving and delivering quality for a software product.

Software Quality Assurance (SQA) plan

A Software Quality Assurance Plan revolves around making sure that the product or service teaches the market trouble and bug-free. It should also meet the requirements defined in the SRS (software requirement specification).

The purpose of an SAQ plan is three-fold. It comprises the following:

Establishing the QA responsibilities of the team in question
Listing areas of concern that need to be reviewed, audited and looked at
Identifies the SQA work products

An SQA plan will work alongside the standard development, prototyping, design, production, and release cycle for a software product or service. For easy documentation and referencing, an SQA plan will have different sections like purpose, references, configuration and management, problem reporting and corrective actions, tools, code controls, testing methodology, and more.

SQA activities

These are, quite simply put, a set of activities common to normal SQA operations.

Creating the plan
It consists of the engineering activities to be carried out, and ensuring the right skill mix in the team. It also lays out the specifics of the actions to be taken in different situations as well as the tools and procedures specific to the plan.
Checkpoint lists
Evaluation of quality of activities at each project stage. This means that there are regularly scheduled inspections and adherence to the schedule.
Executing formal technical reviews
FTRs are used to evaluate the design and quality of the product prototype. Quality requirements and design quality for the prototype are discussed in meetings with the technical staff.
Multi-testing strategy
Adopting multiple testing approaches to cover all bases and ensure the best possible quality.
Process adherence
Designers, developers, and other technical staff must conform to established processes and employ defined procedures. It comprises the following:

Product Evaluation – the product is evaluated against the specifications laid out in the project management plan.Process Monitoring – verifies that the steps taken in software development are correct and match the steps against the documentation.
Control changes
Manual and automated control tools are used for validating change requests, evaluating the nature of change, controlling and if required, arresting the change effect. In effect, this makes sure that the software being developed does not stray too far from the outlines.
Measuring Change Impact
If defects are found, the concerned department issues a fix. The QA team then determines the change and the extent of the change brought by the fix. The change should be stable and should be compatible with the whole project. There are software quality metrics that allow managers and developers to observe these activities and monitor changes throughout the SDLC of the product or service.
SQA Audits
The audit inspects the entire SDLC process to the established procedure laid out in the SQA plan. Non-compliance and missed faults can be unearthed and fixed due to this.
Record and report keeping
Keeping SQA documentation and information with associated stakeholders. This includes audit reports, test results, reviews, change request documentation, and other documentation generated during the entire SDLC.
Relationship management
Managing and interfacing between the QA and the development team, thus keeping roles in check and responsibilities ahead of the individual.

Automated software engineering techniques

There are a number of open source testing tools as well as commercially used tools available for this purpose. Here are the most used examples.

Selenium
A portable software testing tool and automation tool for web applications. A test domain-specific language is also provided. To write test cases one can use programming languages including C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Scala, and Groovy. Selenium is a product suite of software consist of the following components:

HP UFT

HPE Unified Functional Testing was previously known as HP QuickTest Professional. It offers testing automation for functional and regression testing for software applications. It is a user-friendly IDE that provides the best sort of API and GUI testing.

SQA implementation phase

Before building an application, developers and the SQA team create a development plan. To ensure that the SDLC plan gets executed, the developers write the SDLC plan while the SQA team writes the Software Quality Assurance plan. The application that is about to be developed is already halfway done if the documents by the developers and the SQA is well written and organised.

In this phase, the SQA team’s responsibility is to ensure the implementation of the proposed features of the intended application. Along with the implementation, the method of developing the application will also be tracked by the application. There are some design methods that can be used such as language or framework. The SQA team helps the development team in selecting the proper framework or language.

The most important task of the SQA team at this stage is to implement clarity of the coding. Developers could easily write the code of the application but there is a tendency to overdo the coding. The SQA team emphasises the organisation of the coding which should be understood easily. Aside from the coding, the comments within the language are also checked thoroughly. The comments should clearly define each function.

The SQA team checks the software’s documentation. The documentation clearly states the function of the application.

SQA standards

In a typical SQA, compliance is demanded against the following standards. This may be a single standard, more than one standard, or a mix of these standards.

ISO9000
CMMI level (Capability maturity model Integration)
TMMi (Test Maturity Model Integration)
ISO15504

To remain compliant with the above-listed standards, there are a few techniques that are listed in the SQA plan. These SQA techniques include auditing, reviews, code inspections, design inspections, simulations, functional testing, walkthroughs, static analysis, standardizations, stress testing, path testing, Six Sigma principles, and more.

These techniques when used in conjunction with the defined SQA plan save development costs, time, and maintenance costs, boost reputations, increase product safety and give more benefits.

SQA is an interconnected, inter-reliant, and overarching umbrella activity that remains of paramount importance through the SDLC. To say the least, it is a prerequisite for market success and keeping up investor and consumer confidence. It ensures high quality and makes sure that the software product or service remains aligned with the business needs and functions as required when deployed.

CI/CD integration with automation testing

Posted on September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 by harvar

CI (Continuous Integration) & CD (Continuous Delivery) has been gaining a lot of attention and is the most hyped topic in the technology world. It helps the companies to ship their products quickly and efficiently. Initially it was difficult to implement CI/CD in projects but now with a lot of tools available in the market, it is becoming quite easy to make your project implement continuous integration with ease and speed.

Among all the different types of tools available in the market, the most used one is Jenkins. In fact, as per Slintel data, Jenkins has a market share of 47.69%. But we can’t avoid the fact that some more tools like Bitbucket, CircleCI, TeamCity are also claiming their existence gradually.

The point to gain attention here is the use of Selenium tests in Jenkins. With the feasibility of CI/CD, a team would want the regression suite designed with Selenium to execute each time there is change in software code. To achieve the same, we need to integrate our automation suite into CI/CD tools to schedule the run.

Why we need CI/CD integration with automation testing

Due to the Agile process and frequent changes in features, the number of builds provided by developers has been exponentially increased. Continuous integration involves committing code changes to master regularly, triggering a build if applicable and testing the software each time.

To really get the benefits of CI, your team members should aim to commit changes at least daily. However, even on a small team, doing this level of CI/CD automation testing manually would involve a huge amount of repetitive work tasks. This is where the automated testing comes in.

If you’re manually running 10 builds a day at 10 minutes each, that’s 100 minutes wasted in deployment! Furthermore, testing the same again would be tedious, and due to multiple release cycles the quality would be compromised.

The above mentioned approach not only puts the developers behind the schedule, but it’s also going to impact their attempts to push changes to production due to delay in testing and at the end it will reduce the company’s bottom line with new products and features. So to resolve the same, we need to come up with processes which can help us to automate the deployment and testing process on the go, just like Jenkins pipeline does in the release cycle.

One of the major roles of CI/CD integration is when the team is working in multiple time zones. Working in different time zones increases the duration of testing without CI/CD. If the developer team pushes the code in PST, and then if the testing team works from IST, it will take the QA another 12 hours to start testing. So instead of manually testing or triggering the automation suite, we can use the CI/CD pipeline to trigger our automation suite after the code is being pushed by developers.

Steps to integrate AutomationSuite with Jenkins

In this section, we will integrate the Automation Suite with Jenkins job, so that whenever required we can trigger our test suites from the pipeline or even schedule the same. Remember that in the below demo we are using testNG.xml suite and the framework is designed with Maven pom.xml.

Prerequisite for running :
– Automation suite in testNG.xml
– Jenkins server access with valid credentials

Step 1

Integrate testNG.xml suite with pom.xml. To do that, we have to pass the path of testNG.xml suite inside the suiteXmlFiles tag. We need to remember that the path which has been provided here is the path of testNG.xml suite used in our project, so you need to use the path as per the suite located on your setup. Instead of Regression we can also pass the path of Smoke, Sanity, BVT or Confidence suite.

<suiteXmlFile> tag of pom.xml:

<configuration>
<suiteXmlFiles>
<suiteXmlFile>resources\testNG_xml\RegressionSuite.xml</suiteXmlFile>

</suiteXmlFiles>
</configuration>

To get the entire pom.xml with dependencies required in Selenium Automation Framework, refer the link below:

Click link here for pom.XML

Step 2

Go to your Automation project path and open the command prompt. As shown below, project name is “Task” and we have opened cmd @project location:

Step 3

Enter maven goal for test as: “mvn clean test” in the command prompt and hit ENTER. This will execute all the test scripts present in our suite and provide the execution status. This step is very important before starting the integration with Jenkins.

If it fails while running in the command prompt then we need to make sure to fix all the issues before moving it to the Jenkins server.

Step 4

Go to Jenkins, click on New Item as shown in below screenshot. This new item will help us to create a new Jenkins job where we can integrate the automation suite which has all the test scripts for the regression suite.

Step 5

Provide the name for the job, in the below screenshot we have provided the project name as “UiAutomationG11” and select “Maven Project” click on OK button. We need to release that as our automation framework is in Maven so we are selecting Maven project, if you are using Gradle then you have to select accordingly.

Note: Always provide a meaningful name to the project with proper naming convention.

Step 6

Go to Build Select “Invoke top-level Maven targets”, then enter the Goals as “clean test”, and put the pom.xml path of your project in the “POM” section as shown below. Now click on the “Save” button which is in the left bottom section.

Remember that as we are using it for demo so our pom.xml is in our local machine and we are providing path of the project in the POM section, but if you are trying to implement at project level then you need to integrate your GitHub repo link in Jenkins so the code will be pulled from repo directly.

Step 7

To run the suite, click on the Build Now button as shown below, once you click it will trigger the automation suite and test scripts will get executed. After the execution will get completed we can see the status of the job run, and if it fails then the console output can be used to get the error logs for further fixes.

Benefits

The most important benefit that the team will achieve is attaining the quality with the utmost pace. Below are some of the most important benefits of continuous integration with Automation Testing:

Faster release cycle

Pacing up the build and testing cycle will allow the team to get new features into production quicker. It also helps to reduce the testing execution exponentially by triggering from the pipeline. Pipeline helps the organization to accelerate the release rate.

High quality

Any software development process that includes continuous testing is on its way toward establishing a critical feedback loop to go fast and build effective software by making the automated suite part of the pipeline. As we run our suite after every change done by the developer team, it always provides a quality check of each and every code pushed to the code base. Most importantly, the pipeline with continuous testing builds quality into the CI/CD pipeline and reduces risk and waste in the software development lifecycle.

Simplify rollbacks

Integration of automation with the pipeline helps to put a check on code changes. If the tests fail, we can easily rollback the changes to working state. In most of the cases, we basically rollback to the last successful build.

Conclusion

Automated testing plays a key role in any CI/CD pipeline. Although creating automated test suites will take some time & money, making it part of the pipeline to run a check on every deployment soon pays for itself.
Whenever developers make some changes to the code base, pipeline integration helps to run the regression and make sure that new changes haven’t impacted the existing features. So apart from validation, the automation in the pipeline provides confidence to the development team.

In the current market scenario, if you are trying to move to a product company or SDET role, then knowledge in CI/CD is a very important attribute. If you want to explore opportunities in a similar field, do check Talent500

Talent500 helps to hire, build & manage globally distributed workforces, and has a large number of career-defining opportunities for tech professionals such as you.

Selenium developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, interview prep & more

Posted on July 15, 2022 by supriya

An essential part of web development is testing. Countless hours are spent on testing a web app to make sure it is functional and secured. Previously, companies had to hire several manual testers to create test cases for every possible browser scenario to benchmark the performance and integrity of an application. Selenium came as a significant improvement creating tremendous scope for automating the testing process. QA engineers can enact and reenact hundreds of test cases speeding up the development and deployment of applications.

For Selenium developers, a lack of proper resources can prevent them from upskilling, or sometimes, the start can be overwhelming for beginners. Whether you are a manual tester exploring options in automation testing or a Selenium developer looking for upskilling resources, this toolkit will serve as the ultimate resource guide for both.

DevOps and Agile Methodology: Selenium developers must be trained in agile and DevOps methodology. As Agile help accelerate the design and execution of test projects, it is a skill that companies expect in competent QA engineers. DevOps skills enable multiple teams (development, design, analysis, and QA) to work in sync that help build a high-quality product. A Selenium developer should be able to utilize both these methodologies to boost their collaborative competencies.
Automation: Selenium is for automation. Companies expect Selenium developers to demonstrate the right automation skills, apart from Selenium, knowledge of technologies like HP-UTF, SoapUI, and Appium. These automation skills enable testers to design test cases that effectively evaluate the functionality of today’s complex and hyper-interactive applications.
Learn about new technologies: For Selenium developers, it is essential to be familiar with web and mobile technologies. To know the best ways to test any application, it is necessary to understand its underlying technology, the type of application, and its scope in terms of scalability. As development keeps evolving rapidly, it is essential to stay informed about updates and new features. It is why a tester should keep learning to understand better the coding architecture that goes into building effective QA solutions.
Testing tools and techniques: It is an obligatory Selenium tester skill to know different testing tools and techniques. Your expertise as a competent QA engineer comes from exploiting the features of testing tools to the fullest. Several methods include black-box testing, penetration testing, unit testing, system testing, and security testing. Knowing several testing techniques makes you a versatile tester. It is something companies look for, as versatility gives testers flexibility to work on any project. As for tools, Selenium developers much be familiar with tracking tools like Raygun, Sentry, and Bugsnag, GUI testing tools such as Katalon Studio, TestComplete, and Rapise, and test management tools like Jira, Zephyr Scale, and TestRail.
Rational analysis & logical thinking: Approaching testing challenges with a practical approach will require Selenium developers to save time and resources. While not an essential skill, it helps with project planning as with analytical and logical skills, testers can determine the method and strategy for a project way ahead. The rational analysis enables testers to validate applications against different scenarios and predefined standards.

15 Basic Interview Questions Every Selenium Automation Tester Must Know

7 Tricky Interview Questions An Experienced Selenium Automation Tester Should Know

Top 31 Selenium Interview Questions and Answers for 2022

Top 30 Mobile Testing Interview Questions and Answers

Top QA testing trends in 2022

Important Selenium coding tests for developers

Automation testing trends to look out for in 2022

How to communicate with the dev team as a QA engineer

Official Selenium Documentation

Selenium Project Guide

Selenium Official Blog

Selenium Slack Channel

Selenium IRC Chat

Selenium GitHub Repository

Online Courses & Tutorials

Learning Selenium from LinkedIn Learning: This course is a Selenium online training program for beginners to learn the basics of automation testing. The course covers everything from Selenium installation to WebDriver setup, Selenium Grid, and test-writing framework.

Selenium WebDriver with Java -Basics to Advanced+Frameworks from Udemy: For experienced Selenium developers, this course offers several learning topics. It includes real-time Selenium test cases with over 100 examples and comprehensive information on Maven, Jennings, Log4j, and API, Mobile Testing, Database Testing, and Cloud Automation with Sauce labs.

Automated Web Testing with Selenium and WebDriver Using Java from PluralSight: This is the ideal online course for you if you are a Java developer exploring Selenium. It is one of the best automation testing courses on PluralSight that teaches a record-and-playback approach via Selenium, WebDriver test cases, and how to build test suites. If you plan to develop a Quality Assurance framework for your projects, this course can guide you in the right direction.

Selenium WebDriver Masterclass with C# from Udemy: For Selenium developers who work with C#, this Udemy course will be an excellent resource. It will teach you how to create a Selenium WebDriver framework using C#, do parallel tests using NUnit, create HTML reports, test best practices such as DRY and SRP, Page Object Pattern, and automation testing.

Books for Selenium developers

The Selenium Guidebook: It is an essential resource for learning the basics of programming needed for automated testing. All topics necessary for automated testing, like how to decompose an existing web app, how to pack things into a test harness, and how to write reliable and maintainable tests, are covered. The book uses both Java and Ruby examples for exercises.

Selenium 2 Testing Tools: A thorough resource for Selenium developers to learn Selenium 2. The book teaches Selenium testing from top to bottom using Java.

Selenium Testing Tools Cookbook: This excellent book on Selenium tools is for more advanced learners. This is the right book if you want to learn a pragmatic approach to automation testing leveraging Selenium tools.

Online communities for Selenium developers

Podcasts for Selenium developers

TestGuild Automation Podcast

TestGuild Performance Testing Podcast

TestGuild Security Testing Podcast

AB Testing

Test & Code: Python Testing

Communication Skill: As for any other job, software testing roles also require good communication skills. Software testers must comprehend the requirements of a project and express their condition effectively. It will be a routine task for you to converse with software developers and other stakeholders. Excellent written and verbal skills are essential to dealing with discipline and diplomacy when part of a team.
Organizational management skills: Software testing involves many tasks, from designing test cases to validating each functionality. Selenium developers should be prolific schedule makers who can organize tasks and manage time skillfully. The organization management skills help testers efficiently plan and distribute the workload.
Attitude and passion: Right attitude is mandatory for a software testing job. Ability to deal with unforeseen challenges, being unique in designing test cases, and leading teams all require character and passion. If you are not passionate about your work, you can’t break the ceiling to progress and grow.

Conclusion

This is the ultimate Selenium developer toolkit to help you upskill and learn more about Selenium automation testing. We handpicked only the best resources so you can keep learning and be job-ready.

Talent500 is the platform for Indian IT talent to find career redefining opportunities. Fortune 500 companies and startups trust us to build their teams. Join our platform today!

Top QA testing trends in 2022

Posted on April 29, 2022April 29, 2022 by supriya

QA engineers must stay ahead of crucial software testing trends to remain competitive and job-ready. According to the World Quality Report (WQR) 2021-22, companies are now emphasizing testing and QA objectives equally as they do on IT strategies such as enhancing customer experience, security, high quality of software, and responsiveness to business demands. QA role is no longer just about testing and bug fixing. In 2022, the QA function must contribute to improved outcomes for business growth.

The changed outlook has initiated some fast-paced technological developments in the software testing industry. Ability to scale automation, improved mobile testing, AI/ML-based testing, and blockchain testing are some of the trends you need to stay on top of to thrive as a QA engineer.

Let’s take a closer look at current QA trends.

1. Automation testing

Automated testing is perhaps the most important trend to keep up with. QA engineers can add value to the projects in terms of quality and cost with automation testing.

As a QA engineer, your role is to enable product development without compromising quality. You should anticipate bugs and errors early on. A key advantage of automation is running tests in batches without human intervention. With automated testing, you can run multiple scripts and regression tests at any hour. This approach makes it possible to test numerous system and configuration settings in parallel. The time saved can be invested in crucial in-depth manual testing.

The rising popularity of DevOps is enabling faster product development. It requires consistent testing to deliver results from every build. Automation testing can help keep up with speed. It is also essential to provide a quality product every time.

2. AI/ML-based testing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are not new terms, but their application in software testing is a recent development. QA engineers must follow the trend. With the use of AI, you can generate several test cases faster. It can also help generate test case data for varying fields and validations.

Machine learning, the basis for AI, can help analyze any defaults or leaks in testing procedures, even before the test cases, to save time. Another impressive development AI is bringing to the software testing industry is the ability to write test cases in the English language that are automatically translated into programming language by tools. Testsigma is one such tool utilizing the power of AI and ML for software testing.

3. Mobile testing

Mobile devices now make up 55% of the devices used to connect to the internet, and mobile testing has become a standard for companies to deliver customer services at scale. There are three types in the current mobile app landscape: native, web, and hybrid. To cover an extensive array of platforms, most organizations choose hybrid apps.

QA engineers must be able to perform usability tests to ensure that the mobile apps are there as per users’ requirements. For guaranteeing a convincing mobile user experience, exploratory testing is also essential. While expert QA testers recommend using physical devices wherever feasible for mobile testing, familiarity with mobile testing tools such as Frank, Robotium, Appium, SeeTest, and Calabash is also a requirement for QA engineers. Mobile testing ensures that hybrid applications perform seamlessly both on small and large screen sizes.

4. API testing

API or Application Programming Interface testing is a software practice of testing APIs directly. It is part of integration testing that allows seamless integration with third-party API services. As the software systems grow complex, the APIs have to keep up to enable communication and data exchange.

API testing is another trend that will be on the rise in 2022. As thousands of applications use the same API, developers and testers need comprehensive test cases to test these APIs and ensure error-free application performance. Automating the API testing process can help QA teams quickly test APIs’ functionality, reliability, performance, and security.

5. Blockchain testing

Blockchain is a trending technology used by fintech applications to verify and trace multistep transactions. It is also used for verification and traceability by other applications. Ever since cryptocurrencies became popular, blockchain has been in great demand. Also, companies are increasingly leveraging blockchain to secure transactions.

Performing blockchain testing will be necessary for companies to establish a secure and functional infrastructure. As the technology is still evolving, the possibility of performance bottlenecks is higher. Testing can help anticipate such issues and eliminate any existing flaws. With blockchain testing, companies will be able to deliver high-quality services.

Bottomline

QA testing is essential for organizations as it can significantly reduce product delivery time and accelerate progress. QA engineers should keep a tab on testing trends such as automation testing and AI/ML to leverage these technologies for faster product delivery.

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