What Are the Software Quality Assurance (QA) Trends in 2021?

Over the years, there’s been constant change in the software quality assurance industry. Organizations all over the world now focus on applying quality digital transformation for company operations. Quality assurance professionals now implement top software QA trends and strategies to deliver sustainable software products and applications. 

In the past year, a pandemic ravaged the world so much that it caused damages across every sector. Many businesses and organizations had to shut down operations due to enforced lockdown caused by the need for social distancing. 

This led most of these organizations to operate remotely. Digital operations and acceleration had to play a major role in ensuring they are all kept in business. This digital transformation pushed through to the year 2021 with significant changes that can’t be ignored. This promising year has seen a series of quality assurance innovations springing up, which has helped QA professionals to have a better understanding of software design, software development, and software testing.

Certain people understand the idea of Software QA but are not familiar with the top trends in the industry. If you find yourself in such a category of people, you will find this guide on top software QA trends very useful.

Many IT companies now enjoy huge benefits from hiring QA professionals with a good knowledge of API, AI, ML, and microservices. Their extensive knowledge of test automation will guarantee QA efficiency in the field.

Top Software Quality Assurance (QA) Trends in 2021

Here are the top software QA trends in 2021;

QAOps:

This has made a huge impact in the software industry just like DevOps. Software development and testing processes can only be carried out effectively through the use of quality software testing tools and QA solutions. Developers and software testing engineers can utilize the best approach to ensure constant progress during the software development life cycle. This trend will ensure QA activities are carried out within the CI/CD pipeline to ensure optimized software testing of products.

Codeless Testing Automation:

A software testing automation that requires no running of codes is making a great impact on the quality assurance scene. Codeless testing tools have become very relevant in the field due to their use of artificial intelligence algorithms to form test cases. The artificial intelligence algorithm involved here is visual modeling.

Codeless testing automation is a major software QA trend that can be deployed across several types of businesses. This is because it is based on test cases already developed by quality assurance engineers. It is also known as scriptless test automation because it offers a good alternative to writing test cases. Examples of the tools are Ghost Inspector, Testsigma, and Ranorex. 

Codeless testing automation is easy to perform and very effective. 

Codeless Testing Automation Benefits:

• It ensures the reduction of test cycle time during the development stages.
• It allows more transparency and better control of test activities.
• It helps to increase software products and app development pace.
• It helps testers attain maximized scalability of a test by easing the process.

Internet of Things {IoT} Testing:

This is a highly powerful digital network that helps QA engineers to test software developed for various levels of hardware products. Just like the 5G broadband, IoT testing keeps developing and making huge strides on the network scene. 

A detailed software quality assurance course online will introduce you to the basics of the Internet of Things Testing and how to apply it for maximum results. 

IoT Testing Benefits:

• It offers a secure and reliable internet connection for software testing.
• IoT technology can be deployed by corporations and individual users.
• Logistics and transportation companies use this for their operations.
• It is applied in agriculture for mechanized farming tools automation. 

Blockchain Testing:

Blockchain testing has become a major QA trend amongst leading enterprises and organizations around the world. This is simply because it involves decentralization technology and you can see financial service providers, crypto, and automotive companies using it to ensure data is secured safely. It is a quality assurance trend that has pushed businesses to seek software solutions in different means.

As you’ll learn from quality assurance testing training, there are different testing platforms available on the internet. An example is the user-friendly “Ethereum Tester” that offers API with blockchain technology which will help you test the reliability of web3 integration, backend infrastructures, and smart contracts.

Blockchain Testing Benefits:

• Blockchain testing service will make internet scams very difficult. 
• It offers effective validation, encryption, and transmission procedures. 
• It challenges organizations to make the most of legacy system integration.

Learn more about blockchain testing by enrolling in a software QA training course.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:

The introduction of AI and ML for testing automation has become a key driver in the software QA industry. This strategy is highly trendy in 2021 because it offers a unique approach that helps software testers to detect bugs in software products.

The automation of software test data will act as an alternative to manual testing which will, in turn, boost the chances of delivering effective quality assurance solutions. The demand for AI and ML automated testing solutions keeps increasing.

AI and ML Testing Automation Benefits: 

• It allows quality assurance resources to be allocated efficiently.
• It allows testers to run software testing on web browsers.
• It provides accurate monitoring of software performance.
• It guarantees the proper implementation of automated tests. 

Test cases are generated based on user behavior which allows businesses to develop software products that satisfy consumer expectations and demands.

Here is a list of more software QA trends you need to know about;

• Usability Testing and Customer Experience
• Selenium 4 Automated Testing
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Security and Shift-Left Testing
• Robotic Process Automation Testing
• Combined Automation and Manual Testing
• Big Data Testing and Performance Engineering

Conclusion

The modern-day software solution is offering so much to society. This is because many companies and organizations now rely on an effective digital software solution for developing high-quality software products. QA specialists that have undergone quality assurance testing training are expected to keep up with the latest trends in the field. So, it’s vital to familiarize yourself with the top trends highlighted in this guide.