Dispelling Five Quality Assurance Myths
Let's have these five Quality Assurance Testing Myths broken for good. Find out more in the article.
Quality is an important part of the software development process. This is an undisputed fact and there’s no arguing otherwise. To reach your organization’s goal of producing high quality software, Quality Assurance (QA) and testing is necessary. Unfortunately, there is little consensus on how to achieve it. In fact, there are many misconceptions when it comes to QA and testing.
It’s time to dispel some of these common myths that interfere with creating quality and realize the importance of QA and testing for any organization.
Myth No. 1 – QA is testing
First things first, it’s important to differentiate between QA and testing. Both are needed in the software development life cycle, but they are not the same thing. QA is a process and testing is just one part of that process. Granted, it is a critical part of the QA process, but it is not the whole picture. Quality is a standard that the entire development team should aim for throughout the software development life cycle. This means that the QA process should begin the moment the project is started – from requirements, specifications and processes to coding.
Myth No. 2 – Testing and agile don’t mix
Agile development is at odds with how testing is done. Traditionally, they have not gone well together because testing is not agile. However, testing is no longer in the Stone Age. Now, with machine-learning platforms like Functionize, you can test very quickly. Since the platform is elastically scalable, you can run thousands of test cases in a matter of minutes.
Additionally, test cases don’t break as easily when using the Functionize platform. Whereas test cases may break easily using Selenium whenever an element changes slightly, Functionize uses more information to define what that element is. In other words, the test cases would still work because the platform would fall back to other selectors that would allow Functionize to find the element and allow the test case to continue.
Myth No. 3 – An organization should have a QA and testing department or developer-driven testing only
Through our experiences with meeting different organizations, we have found that people are adamant that it has to be an either or situation when it comes to who tests. We’re here to tell you that this is a big myth. You can have configurations that are on both ends of the spectrum. Whether you have developers do all their own testing or have a QA and testing department, both are valid company structures.
Myth No. 4 – If you don’t have any technical abilities, you can’t automate tests
Sometimes, for various reasons, testers require a working knowledge of computer programming and software development. This means they need to know how to code and build scripts. This is not a skill set everyone possesses. Now, there are tools on the market that allow you to automate test cases, but these aren’t always code free. This brings you right back to the original dilemma. Fortunately, we provide a machine-learning platform that actually automates your software testing without needing any prior knowledge of programming or development. This allows your organization to leverage its existing team, effectively making everyone a testing engineer.
Myth No. 5 – It doesn't make sense to spend much on QA
Quality assurance is often a process that gets kicked to the curb when budgets are cut. Some believe it eats up time and adds extra costs to an already expensive project. While some aspects to this may be true, it’s foolish to think QA is unnecessary to the software development life cycle. An undiscovered bug left in your software can end up costing your organization significantly more than what it would cost to implement QA. When your reputation is at risk, having or not having QA should never be up for debate. Quality assurance is not a maybe, it’s a must for any project’s success.
