Quality assurance is an important part of the software development process and maintenance and is poorly understood. Lapses in the quality assurance process cause significant problems down the road, so it is essential to be thorough from start to end. Here are six myths about software development quality assurance:
It is true that testing is an important part of the quality assurance process, but it neither begins nor ends there. Testing is an ongoing process that encompasses everything from the design to maintenance.
Good testers are hard to come by and if you find one you should hold on to them. Quality testers increase your efficiency because they know where to look in order to find the problems that less experienced testers or automated programs may overlook.
Bugs will always be a part of your software systems. Quality assurance is about minimizing them, as well as maintaining a level of confidence that the bugs you have are not going to cause serious damage. These benign bugs are called known defects and are accepted by quality assurance developers if the system is operating sufficiently.
While automated testing will save time, there are some things that need to be done manually. Automated testing uses the same inputs repeatedly, but when confronted with different inputs a quality assurance test may not perform as well. This mirrors reality, so it is an important part of the testing process. Furthermore, automated testing is less reliable in the early stages of development and is exceptionally developed with time, so physical testing is necessary in the beginning.
Don’t put off quality assurance testing until the end of the process. Bugs that are found at the end are more expensive and difficult to fix. The testing ends up getting pushed aside later in the process because other additions are more imperative.
Sure, quality assurance costs money, but it is an investment that is well worth it. The costs that you will incur when bugs are found post-development will be not only expensive, but also the nature of unexpected problems are bad for morale and will set you back in the end.
Don’t let the myths of software development quality assurance cost you or your company unnecessary time, money, or stress. Make sure you are engaging in quality assurance in all stages of development and maintenance. Develop a right combination of automated and manual testing and do your due diligence in finding a suitable tester that is enthusiastic and experienced.
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