Hello there. In today’s edition of our blog post, we will be discussing the subject of QA engineering.
What is it? What is the purpose? And above all, why does your software need a QA engineer in order to succeed? Stay with us for the next 5 minutes and find out why.
One of the leading challenges for a company in app development is getting apps to the market on time and within the estimated budget. Also, equally important is to ensure the quality of the app before its launch. For that reason, there’s a growing demand for software quality assurance practice.
What is Quality Assurance (QA)?
Quality Assurance (QA) is the assembly of all planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product, process, or service will satisfy quality requirements. It is the essential element of quality management that focuses on providing confidence in how far the quality requirements have been fulfilled.
The quality assurance process starts from the moment of requirements elicitation, planning and designing, through the development stage, continues through production and delivery and ends with post-delivery customer support. This approach helps to ensure that the product or service is of the highest quality from start to finish.
Quality assurance is an integral part of the overall development product process and it is designed to catch problems before they reach the customer. It involves the inspection and testing of products or services, and the continuous improvement of production processes to prevent defects from occurring.
The Purpose of Software Quality Assurance
Software Quality Assurance (SQA) is the process of evaluating and testing software to ensure that it meets the specified quality standards and customer requirements. SQA involves the entire software development life cycle, from planning and design to testing and maintenance. By implementing an effective SQA process, organizations can improve the quality of their software and deliver products that meet the needs of their customers.
The goal of SQA is to provide confidence that the software is of high quality and meets the needs of the customer. SQA helps organizations to reduce the cost of rework, improve the efficiency of the software development process, and enhance the reputation of the company.
What does a QA Engineer do?
So, what exactly does a QA engineer do?
By working closely with the development team, QA engineers play a critical role in delivering high-quality software to the customer. They are responsible for evaluating and testing software throughout the whole software development life cycle by providing valuable feedback and insights.
The first step for a QA engineer is to determine the testing approach to a software development life cycle of a project. This is done by understanding the project requirements, scope, risks and objectives. Working closely with the development team and stakeholders, the QA engineer is gathering information and gaining a deep understanding of the project. Based on this understanding, the QA engineer can determine the most appropriate testing approach to meet the project requirements.
After determining the most appropriate testing approach for a project, the QA engineer validates the planned project by developing a test plan. This includes defining the test cases, test scenarios, and test data that will be used to evaluate the software. The test plan also outlines the testing process, the scope of testing and objectives, and provides a roadmap for the testing activities. Test planning is a continuous activity and it is performed through a continuous development life cycle.
The test case design is an important part of the testing activities. The QA engineer will design and create test cases that are designed to validate the functionality of the software to ensure that it meets the specified quality standards. The test cases should be designed to cover all aspects of the software, including both functional and non-functional testing.
Why does my software need a QA Engineer?
In addition to improving the quality of the software, QA engineers can also help save time and money in several ways.
- Early Detection of Defects: By performing a thorough review of the initial business requirements, QA engineers can detect defects early in the development process. This can save time and money because it is much easier and cheaper to fix defects at an early stage of the development process compared to later stages. Early detection of defects can also prevent the need for rework, which can be time-consuming and costly.
- Saving Time: QA engineers can help improve productivity by automating repetitive testing tasks. Automated testing can save time and reduce the chance of human error, and automated testing can also be run more frequently, allowing for faster detection of defects.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Introducing QA engineers earlier in the software development process can improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that the software specified requirements and are of high quality. Customers are more likely to be satisfied with a software product that works correctly and meets their expectations. The goal here is to obtain exceptional quality so that the software product would inspire customer loyalty.
QA engineers have a variety of testing techniques at their disposal to ensure that software products are of high quality. But you can read more about the types of testing in our next edition of QA blogging.