You don’t need Software Tester, do you?

Published in

Fintegro Company Inc

5 min readApr 5, 2019

Working for an IT company has its own characteristics. For example, within the same department, specialists can perform a variety of projects. Under the projects, you can understand whether website development or the creation of apps or systems and much more. The result of the project is a product created to solve the problem of the end user. It’s obvious things, I guess.

According to the classical scheme of work on a project, developers write code, and software testing engineers look for errors in it and submit them for correction.

However, today there is another option: project managers deliberately do not attract testing specialists, referring to the “fact” that developers themselves can cope with the search for defects and bugs. Is it the right decision?

Why does it happen? Is it possible to overcome all difficulties connected with the product development without Tester Engineer? The answers in today’s article!

The first question: Why are testing engineers sometimes neglected?

From time to time, at start-ups, project managers decide to do without people who are only engaged in testing the developed product.

In this case, the programmers themselves have to ensure the quality of the code, even when the development methodology is not directly based on the performance of such actions.

Of course, there are many experienced professionals in their field for whom a quality job is a matter of principle. However, it all belongs to the verification code responsibly and accurately.

Some project managers using agile development methodologies can sometimes neglect the services of testers, confidently believing that they are needed only on projects with a cascade model.

Who can put the place of a QA engineer?

In the cases described above, the role of the tester in the project is performed by the developers themselves or even the customers. So let’s see how the quality is assured in such situations:

Developers

The immediate authors of the code are sometimes looking for defects. In their work, they resort to the following practices:

Code Review

The method is often used on agile projects. When writing code, the developer himself constantly checks it. Thus, he finds typos, improves the quality of the product and achieves a uniform writing style.

TDD (Test-Driven Development)

Acceptance of development through testing. Before creating the code itself, programmers write automated tests of the developed applications that will determine the requirements for the code.

Continuous Integration

Software development method, in which, for the faster search for defects at an early stage, developers continuously integrate all working copies into one branch of development and carry out automated project assemblies.

Pair Programming

Two specialists write the code at once one of them is working on the code itself, and the second is constantly checking the finished part. Periodically, developers change places.

MORE ABOUT DEVELOPER’S TESTING READ IN THIS ARTICLE:

Who does the Software Testing? Developer vs Tester (Infographics)

Customers

Sometimes even the customer provides the quality of the finished solution. In such cases, it accepts the work done after each iteration. Such situations periodically arise on projects using flexible methodologies, when the customer also wants to analyze the team’s work.

So are testers always needed?

The situations described above are sometimes encountered in practice. But is it possible to be completely sure that without the involvement of testing engineers the quality of the product will remain at its best?

Now let’s look at the arguments in favor of why testers are needed on projects.

Testers specific skills. Product testing requires specialists to have special skills that are very different from the requirements for developers.
Testing engineers, in addition to attention, natural curiosity and research, must be disciplined and ready for the fact that at times they will have to perform monotonous work.
To find some defects, it is sometimes necessary to think outside the box and creatively address the problem.
QA-engineers should also know and understand the work of the tested IT solution and cover the whole picture in order not to miss any detail.

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Even with a lot of experience, excellent knowledge of programming and the use of quality tools, developers can still make a mistake, both insignificant and critical, up to unrecorded requirements. Therefore, it is very important to find all possible defects before the client or end users of the product do it.

Attracting experienced testing engineers to the project, you will receive a team of specialists who will substitute each other if necessary. And each member of the team will have unique knowledge in their field, learn new facets of their profession and offer the best solution to the problem.
Second sight. The authors of texts always read every material and not only look for the slightest inaccuracies and typographical errors but also pay attention to the logic, structure, purpose, the general impression of what they read.

In this regard, the work of testers is similar to the profession of a copywriter. The tests are aimed at finding all types of defects, from trivial to crucial ones. Specialists make their checks so that they take into account all possible risks and do not forget about the interests of the customer.

The price of an error. The importance of a testing specialist at a project is difficult to overestimate for another significant reason. Thanks to the errors found on time, even at the development stage, in the future, large financial losses and additional time to eliminate them can be avoided.

What is the result?

Testing specialist is not just looking for defects in the application. Thanks to testers, end users get really high-quality products, which they use with pleasure. At the same time, the customer’s profit grows, as users always notice that the work was done responsibly and thoughtfully. This is partly the merit of a tester!

So, your project definitely needs a Test Engineer!

Hope this article was useful and interesting for you! Please “clap” if you like it and want to read us more! And don’t miss a chance to let professionals provide your project with TOP-NOTCH IT Talents.

You don’t need Software Tester, do you?

Developers

Customers

Written by Arine Baghdasaryan