Developing software without quality assurance (QA) testing is like sending a race car out on the track without any test drives first. The development team may put together something polished that looks great and seems ready to go, but fails at critical junctures. Standardized procedures and good practices are important throughout the entire software development life cycle (SDLC), but ultimately, QA teams are the gatekeepers that prevent “buggy” software releases from becoming car wrecks after they hit the open market.
What Software QA Testing Is
QA engineers and testers essentially put newly developed software through a series of tests to determine whether or not it is ready for release. Some of these tests include performance, usability, scalability, and functionality. They also may examine the code behind the software to make sure that it doesn’t include any redundancies and that it adheres to current best practices for the languages the software is written in, e.g. Javascript, C++, etc. The goal of QA testing is to find “bugs” or mistakes in the software that can be corrected by the development team before the software is released to the public.
What Software QA Testing Isn’t
Even if a software company has a great QA team, that shouldn’t be an excuse for managers to rush products into testing before they’re ready. If you don’t have a team of your own, you may want to think about outsourcing and try it out with companies like SmartBear. QA testers are to software what editors are to writers. They are there to help improve the finish product and catch obvious flaws, but they shouldn’t have to deal with a poorly compiled product. All too often managers rush developers through the coding process under the misguided impression that it is the GA testers’ job to find all the mistakes. In reality, QA testers can only do so much and they should be given software that has already been examined for obvious problems.
** A Note About BETA Releasing**
The idea of releasing BETA software, software that hasn’t undergone thorough QA testing, is just a poor excuse for not conducting appropriate QA software testing. Releasing software that isn’t ready for the market often results in frustrated users who lose patience waiting for the final product to be usable. Software QA testing is a critical part of the SDLC that shouldn’t be skipped if a software company wants to ensure good user experiences.
Software quality assurance testing is like the final taste of a gourmet dish by a master chief. Ultimately the QA team my offer critiques for improvement or suggestions to enhance the software’s appeal, but you can’t serve them something that is barely finished and expect them to point out every single thing that is wrong. Software QA testing is a final step in the process to ensure that products are as close to being “perfect” as possible, but it isn’t an fool-proof way to compensate for software that is poorly developed in the first place.
What Does It Meant to Conduct Software QA Testing?
