Where does QA (Quality Assurance) start and end ?
A profession still very young and constantly evolving, its scope is as vast as it is essential in any technological company. I discovered it through my various professional experiences (aeronautics, internet of things, SEO …). Let’s first define the profession of tester, the “agile” version of which would be QA. The tester must :
- Write test procedures in front of software version
- Perform these test procedures (also called manual tests)
- Report bugs
- Write test reports
- Give the go to release the version into production
According to above items, the profession of tester is often seen as :
- a repetitive job, with low added value (we do the same procedures again and again)
- the person bringing bad news (“the system is full of bugs, we don’t release it”)
The QA profession draws heavily on the above points, but it also covers a much wider perimeter. It can then get rid of this bad image that the tester has.
According to me, QA will have to spread a culture of quality in the whole compagny. For instance, QA should no longer be the only one to test : he still designs the tests to be run, but shares the load with the other people involved in the project. The QA is also the one who will challenge the company’s procedures, through retrospectives, post-mortem, etc. QA knows the whole system perfectly, to guarantee overall consistency. Conversely, he must also be able to test it in every detail. Last but not least, QA must also have a product vision, in order to find the tests that will have real added value from a business point of view.
In conclusion, thanks to its both technical and functional nature, QA becomes the one with the most complete view of the system.
The purpose of this blog will be to present to you some ideas, methods and tools of QA, and to democratize this profession which is currently experiencing a real boom. I wish you a very good reading.