Five Myths of Testing by a Software QA
f u cn rd ths, u cn b a gd sftwr tstr.
Can you read the statement above?
That statement simply says, “if you can read this, you can be a good software tester”.
My journey as a software QA at Cermati has just started recently in May 2018. Working as a consultant and developer at my previous company, it was quite a big decision for me to make the switch and take the role as a software QA at Cermati. My interest in organizing, administering, and paying attention to details motivate me to become a software QA so I’m able to help finding bugs or something to improve in the development of our product.
People tend to think QA profession is an easy job, since the duty is ‘just’ testing software to find some bugs or errors, report them to the developers, back to testing again, then report again, and repeat. But I can say that it is way more complicated than that.
Here are some myths and facts about what we do as a software QA tester.
1. Testing is easy
“What is so difficult about testing a software? This is the easiest job in IT field!”
Hmm, I don’t think so. Proper QA testing can be extremely challenging. Planning a test, creating test cases, running regression tests, writing detailed steps to reproduce bugs are some of the tasks that have to be done with patience and great attention to details.
High analytical skills are required when you test a software for many possible use cases with minimum test cases.
2. Anyone can do manual testing
Anyone can cook, but can everyone make a gourmet food? Of course not, only those who are highly trained in the culinary arts can.
Software QA testing, just like cooking, is an art on its own. Effective and efficient testing requires many skill sets and knowledge.
3. Testing ensure 100% bug-free product
Discovering as many bugs as possible is one of the objectives of QA testing, while making sure the features work according to the actual requirements. However, 100% defect-free software is just impossible.
Identifying all possible defects is impossible. Believe me, you’ll find at least a small defect there (getting kicked by the developers 😜).
4. QA specialists aren’t needed, developers can do the testing just fine
Some people think that the role of software QA testers in the development life cycle depends on company size. At smaller companies, all of the testing process can be done by their developers. This is correct, but what if the developers have a bunch of tasks with tight deadlines? They might not be able to concentrate on performing detailed regression tests while also facing the repetitiveness of smoke tests.
At Cermati, we believe that good software comes not only from great features, but also from carefully conducted processes of testing handled by people who’re committed to it.
5. Automated testing is more powerful than manual testing
I think 100% automation on QA isn’t very feasible. Human touch is required to see and feel if the UI/UX is good enough for users. We need humans to make sure a button positioning is right.
Automated testing can tell us if the coordinates are correct, but only human experience can tell us if the buttons are properly placed and displayed. Manual testing is essential for this human touch.
Honestly, I also believed those myths at first. But I finally changed my mind after going through the real process as a software QA tester. QA is an important role in software development.
Aside from software testing skills, a QA tester must also have the ability to communicate with managers and developers to ensure effective testing phases, and to also bring positive impact to the overall development process.
Let developers develop, let testers test.
