When All Else Fails!

I married a Software Developer, so you can just imagine how chaotic we discuss things at home. 

Today, I faced a problem in one of my projects; they made me test a feature with no requirements. And as you know, it is one of the most taboo moments of being Software Tester. Under normal circumstances, the Tester should shoo away and decline any involvement with projects like these. So, you may call me stupid for accepting to test a feature with no requirements. I will discuss in another post what a Tester should do given this scenario.

But today, I already have my face on a blank wall. So I am talking with my husband via instant messaging trying to tell him of what I plan to do next.

Me: When all else fails, report it as bug! (I was thinking that the developer will finally cooperate and give me some useful tips on understanding the problem)

SD Husband: Dev: When all else fails, it’s the OS!

And oh he didn’t stop at that…

SD Husband: OS: When the OS fails, it’s the hardware!

Me: Hardware: When Hardware fails, it’s the company! They have no money to upgrade!

And so I am ending this post with a renewed spirit to report a new bug!

Quality Control vs Quality Assurance

As a true blood Software Tester, the question in the difference of Quality Control vs Quality Assurance is an easy peasy. Sadly, after years and years of the existence of Software Testers in the development team, most software development practitioner cannot spot the difference. And worst, they do not even know how to call themselves. I still know of companies calling their “Testers” as “QA” and vice versa.

Let’s try to define the two, the easiest way possible.

Software Quality Assurance is monitoring that the software process is strictly complied by the entire development team. Additionally, the evaluation of the process compliance is done via audits and metrics.

Software Quality Control is developing and executing the tests needed for the product to be delivered. And Software Testing is a component of Software Quality Control.

Thus, if you happen to read this blog and you are a Software Tester calling yourself a "QA", it is never too late to give your profession its long due justice. And if you are a software developer and calls the tester in the next cubicle a “QA”, just go back to your code and rewrite them all over again because it won’t pass the first cycle of testing! Please, don’t make me go on mentioning each development team as they might gang up on me. But if you are new on software testing, welcome to the world of bugs!