Software testing, which is basically the process of examining whether software performs in the way it has been designed to perform, is a crucial part of software development. It ensures there are no bugs and that the software is easy to use, among many other things. Recently, machine learning has been used to take software testing to the next level, and it looks likely that machine learning will soon change software testing forever.
Current Roles of Machine Learning in Test Automation
Machine learning uses algorithms in order to make decisions. It also uses feedback from human input to update the algorithms. At present, machine learning is used by DevOps teams for test automation in several ways.
First off, developers can make sense of extremely high quantities of test data to better understand trends and patterns and identify risks. Decisions can be made continuously and faster when machine learning is a part of software testing. Also, software that incorporates machine learning enables DevOps teams to understand the level of quality and usability of the code, analyze security issues, and identify test gaps faster and better.
With traditional software testing, the engineers often find it challenging to continuously maintain scripts every time a new build is delivered for testing or a new function is added to the test, and often, such events will break the test automation scripts. With software testing that utilizes machine learning, a test automation framework automatically identifies changes made to things like the element locator. It can then either quickly fix any issue that arises or alert developers that the item needs fixing. Basically, that means test scripts can run much smoother and need less developer intervention.
Software testing that involves machine learning is still in its infancy. In the meantime, there are thankfully plenty of excellent automation testing tools available, such as TestProject, that provide quality free end-to-end test automation for various platforms. But the future of software testing is undoubtedly tethered to machine learning.
Why will machine learning change software testing forever?
There’s no need to get over technical to provide an answer as to why machine learning will change software testing forever. The answer is simply that machine learning provides software testing with faster tests and results, as well as tests that identify the things that matter most. By teaching a machine which details users care about, those machines can learn to care too and provide better test results than ever before.
Software testing has always been one of the most challenging parts of software development, and it can often lag in terms of both speed and utility. But machine learning can make the testing process stronger and quicker.
In the future, smart machines will be able to utilize data from current application usage and past testing experience to build and execute tests and interpret test results without the need for any human input. Machine learning also provides a more streamlined and effective testing process because it can handle large volumes of developments and create specialized tests as necessary.
In end-to-end testing, machine learning is starting to make a big difference. Its main advantage is being able to leverage highly complex analytics to identify and anticipate the needs of users. For instance, with machine learning-driven software testing, every web application interaction is monitored to understand the common journeys that users take. As machine learning learns more, it can anticipate how new changes to an application will affect the user experience. So, machine learning testing can build more meaningful tests than humans can.
Machine learning-driven software tests can be built and maintained faster than traditional software tests. Furthermore, they are less expensive than test automation built by humans because the machine learning test requires less human input. Machine learning means cheaper, faster, and much more efficient software testing.
Final Thoughts
Machines are starting to do some things better than humans can, and software testing is one of them. With quicker and better testing, the future of software development looks exciting. However, we’re probably a few years away from machine learning completely transforming the software testing industry.
