The test automation market is growing every year. According to Markets And Marketers, the predicted CAGR from 2021 to 2026 will hold at 19.2%, and the direct value will reach $49.9 billion. This growth is driven by entrepreneurs’ interest in ensuring the quality of their IT products to attract and retain potential clients. It is worth noting that according to CBInsights, about 8% of even promising startups fail due to poor implementation of their IT solution, which manifests as an abundance of bugs or banal errors that annoy users.
A digital product should be thoroughly tested literally from the first days of its development to avoid problems after the release. Particular attention should be paid to full-fledged programs for desktop OS, such as Windows, Linux, macOS. Their main problem lies in the extended code and the abundance of additional modules that need to be synchronized with the app body as much as possible. Naturally, issues arise during adaptation, and only a combination of integration and complex testing will help to fix all the critical errors.
We have studied the realities of the test automation for windows desktop application and the trends in this area and are ready to share with you, dear readers, the study results.
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Importance of Windows Desktop App Testing
As we have already said, the main problems in testing desktop apps are the amount of code and the number of functions, modules, integrations, and libraries. To avoid unpleasant excesses, you should more carefully check each line separately and the program’s overall performance. As you can see, the work is divided into components: testing directly by developers and testing by QA specialists. Naturally, the methods and tools for these tasks differ, but only in combination can they provide the level of quality that all severe software manufacturers, as well as their customers and entrepreneurs, strive for.
Why is it important to thoroughly test Windows programs?
- The number of bugs is minimized.
- The overall operation of the IT solution is stabilized.
- Optimized and cleaned up the code.
- The desired level of performance is achieved.
- Platform is improved for further upgrades.
- Problem areas in the IT product are identified.
Testing, in general, aims to improve the performance and minimize bugs of the app, regardless of its degree of completion. It is understood that even in the early stages of development, it is worth applying basic types of testing, such as a black-box method for checking the correct processing of requests or input. To properly build a testing strategy, you should determine the value of tests and their impact on the overall quality of an IT solution.
It should be noted that modern testing methods and tools are actively transformed under the influence of trends. For example, five years ago, only certain types of testing were being automated, in particular, repeatable routine processes; now, QA engineers are able to automate up to 90% of all methods and operations. What awaits the automation industry in the next decade? It is already possible to predict the vector of development of the sphere based on the trends of the IT segment.
Top Five Trends In Testing 2023
Modern technologies are far from the final form, and therefore they are constantly being upgraded and improved. This trend has not bypassed the QA sphere, offering the latest developments for use in progressive tools, turning them into almost universal solutions. Let’s look at the top five trends that will set the vector for developing the IT industry as a whole and its individual components, such as test automation for desktop applications.
First trend: AI, ML, DL
The race for supremacy in creating perfect artificial intelligence has been going on for a decade but without much success. Self-learning programs with analytical and autonomous capabilities are the benchmark that developers and scientists around the world aspire to. Ideal AI will make it possible to make a breakthrough not only in digital technologies but also in such areas as business, medicine, logistics, trade, and others. Naturally, improvements will also appear in the QA services industry.
The traditional combination of AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning), and DL (Data Lakes) allow even now to process petabytes of information literally on the fly. How will this help in test automation? Autonomous scripting, parallelization, or even creating and running full-fledged complex tests with just one command input is the pinnacle of a QA engineer’s dreams, which can only be realized with the help of advanced technologies.
Second trend: RPA
Currently, Robotic Process Automation technologies are not sufficiently developed for their widespread use, but soon the situation may change dramatically. The use of RPA for automation desktop application is justified by the idea of complete autonomy of all processes and strategies. QA specialists can still create full-featured scripts and tests for automation, but this requires resources that are often not enough. And RPA is designed to solve this problem by delegating standard and routine tasks to AI.
Third trend: Hyper-automation of everything
From the first two trends, it appears that the world seeks to minimize manual labor in many areas of activity, particularly in the IT industry. The theory of hyper-automation implies the almost complete autonomy of all common processes through the use of AI as self-learning software with the ability to make decisions or develop new solutions.
This trend is especially useful for the QA industry because modern testing is based on scenarios that literally imitate real user actions. Here, hyper-automation will generally eliminate the human factor when writing these scenarios and even analyzing test results.
Fourth trend: Comprehensive cloud platform
Cloud solutions have long become commonplace for businesses or as platforms for end-to-end mobile or web solutions. Application in test automation or QA is not yet so common, but judging by the vector of the industry’s development, this issue will be resolved soon. The more resources required for full-fledged testing, the higher the demand for hardware, and hence the desire of specialists to reduce the load on working machines. And this is possible only when using server hosting and cloud computing. The trend for their development will continue shortly and will keep the main goal of scaling such sites and their productivity.
Fifth trend: Consumer testing
What is the main indicator of the quality of an IT solution? The loyalty of consumers and their financial support of the project. How to provide them with the best user experience? Allow evaluating the product at an early stage and directly influence its development. Of course, this looks ideal, but unfortunately, there is not always enough time to implement such a testing scenario. That’s why QA engineers use real-world experience to create practical scenarios.
The trend toward this approach to quality assurance will develop in the coming years, and the level of QA itself will increase, which will provide a better experience and, subsequently, revenue from a pure user-friendly IT solution.
Top Five Tools for Automation Windows Apps QA
Modern technologies are advanced enough to work on finding and fixing bugs in digital products. They are actively introduced into the toolkit of testers, who improve the testing process with their help, depending on their own experience and skills. Our selection is primarily aimed at working with Windows desktop apps.
WinAppDriver
An almost native tool from the system manufacturer, namely Microsoft. You can test apps with it on UWP, WPF, WinForms, and MFC platforms. Working in conjunction with Visual Studio and special environments, this driver allows you almost completely to automate interface and functionality tests.
Solution features:
- Used autonomously.
- Integration into other environments is supported.
- It has its own Web Driver.
A good tool for testing Windows apps directly from the developer. Distributed for free, popular with QA specialists.
Winium
This tool’s omnivorousness makes it one of the most popular among testers. Its main purpose is to work with desktop programs, more precisely with the automation of UI testing. The key factor that affects the solution’s popularity is its omnivorous nature because scripting is supported in C #, Java, and Python.
Features:
- Supports JSON Wire.
- Proficient in Java, C#, PHP, Perl, Ruby, and Python.
- Can run remote tests.
In the hands of an experienced QA specialist, this tool is one of the best for troubleshooting desktop apps. Winium can cope with any set task and effectively identify all key bugs directly in the native environment despite several shortcomings.
TestArchitect
This is not just a tool but a complete platform for testing desktop apps. Its capabilities allow you to effectively test IT solutions in several ways, automating scenarios in series or parallel.
Features:
- Codeless scripting with ABTL.
- Support for testing the database, interface, functions.
- Full CI/CD/DevOps integration.
This tool is one of the best QA solutions on the market. Despite its cost, its flexibility and versatility completely outweigh investment in it.
Ranorex
A hybrid platform for testing almost all kinds of apps. Its peculiarity lies in the extensive coverage of test tasks, including testing the UI or functionality. Automation with Ranorex simplifies routine processes and identifies bugs in programs more efficiently.
The tool’s features:
- Large coverage of test tasks.
- Compact scripts for automation.
- Parallel testing on different platforms.
Using Ranorex to solve a range of desktop software testing tasks reduces the amount of invested resources and increases the efficiency of QA processes.
SikuliX
This tool is aimed to solve challenges when testing GUI in desktop apps for Windows OS. Its features are cross-platform and adaptability. Thanks to the flexible script editor, you can not only parallelize tests but also fully automate them.
Features:
- Object-oriented interaction model.
- Full automation of interface testing.
- Support for all desktop app platforms.
This tool has been in the arsenal of QA specialists for several years now. During this time, it has proven itself as a reliable and fairly simple solution that can cope with most modern tasks.
Summarizing
Testing of desktop solutions has many features that not all representatives of the tester profession can handle. Contact the professionals in this industry if you need a really high-quality service for improving software and minimizing the number of bugs. Zapple Tech has dozens of completed projects and feedback from satisfied customers. Cooperating with us, you get an advanced approach to solving your problems in QA. For advice and order, please contact our manager.
