Popular Software Testing QA Misconceptions
Most software development companies have recognized the benefits of software testing and have already started including the process to their projects. However, many misconceptions linger about software testing that makes it tough for the testers to carry on with their job. Some of those popular misconceptions include:
Software testing is solely a quality-control activity.
Software testing is more of a quality assurance (QA) activity. QA testing services are performed side by side with the software development process to achieve the required quality. Unlike quality control, software testing looks into the user’s needs and requirements.
Software testing is an easy job.
Software testing isn’t a no-brainer job that requires no specific skill sets. For a good tester, software testing is more about information-gathering to answer questions they have never faced before, and solve issues on the fly, often in time-pressured environments. To do that, testers are often tasked to research, inquire, observe, assess and use the software to evaluate everything. Developing automation testing requires the construct and deployment of complex scripting and constant evaluation.
A tester can test everything.
It is impossible for testers to cover all possible scenarios. Usually, a tester will look for the important test scenarios and prioritize them to perform the assignment. As much as every software program should run perfectly, a number of issues can impair testers, such as a lack of time, client budgets, and the required infrastructure.
Testing performed means your software is 100% bug-free.
Perfection is almost impossible to achieve and therefore, the goal of software testing is to refine software into something of highly-acceptable quality. Even if the program is cleared of risks and defects, it is possible that the operating environment may contain bugs that can cascade. This will be addressed in patches at a later date.
A tester's job is just to find bugs.
Detecting bugs is just one of many major roles a software tester performs. Apart from finding bugs, it is also the duty of a software tester to evaluate the software needs, analyze the product structure, and come up with ideas to make the product user-friendly. Advanced testing can show future weak points due to user loads, max tolerances on hardware infrastructure, and even the intuitive nature of your UI.
Testers do not contribute value to the product.
This misconception is mainly because of a lack of general education on what the software testers are capable of. The testing team evaluates the end-to-end function of the software to ensure its quality before the final product is released to the market. Through this, the testers get to apply their understanding of the product and can be the make or break of a product launch.
Software testing hinders speedy market delivery.
A software program’s market debut may be already scheduled even before its first lines of code are even written. Therefore, the pressure to deliver the product as quickly as possible often persists. This is the main reason most businesses skip certain parts of software testing thinking that it will consume time. This will usually compromise the quality of the product. It is true that testing processes consume time and resources, however, any professional development plan should have adequate time and resources devoted to testing at all stages of the SDLC.
Automation will replace human testers.
Automation testing services can help in quickly delivering results on mass for certain types of testing and is always advised to be considered as a cost-effective time-saving way to assess certain stages. However, human testers are more capable of understanding how to test the product from the user’s point of view. There is also the time and cost involved in creating bespoke automation scripts. Automated testing systems aid human testers in the workload but cannot replace them.
