Quality assurance plays a very important role in software development, but many companies neglect it carelessly
Quality assurance (QA) is a truly important process in software development and a vital stage in its lifecycle. Companies that strive for maximum quality and customer satisfaction invariably incorporate QA specialists into their processes.
During development, it's crucial to ensure that the software functions exactly as initially intended. That's why there is a continuous focus on working on brand-new applications and fresh features for those that are already in active use.
When choosing software for permanent use, people often look not only at the variety of features of a specific application but also at its stability. If the developers have failed to achieve this, dreaming of stable customer attention is out of the question.
The role of quality assurance involves the continuous adherence to rules and standards in software development, guaranteeing its quality. QA is a critically important process that must be performed regardless of the scale of the project currently being worked on.
Quality assurance (QA) is a special methodology that ensures the software's quality conforms to a set of standards predefined. Thanks to QA, minor issues in the operation of any part of an application can be detected before they become genuine big problems.
Quality assurance is not simply one of the steps carried out after software development, but an ongoing process that occurs parallel to it. That's why companies must have QA specialists who work together with the team of programmers.
QA specialists test applications based on external and internal characteristics. Among the external characteristics, effectiveness, reliability, and the cost of future maintenance are particularly important. All of these relate not only to the quality of the code itself but also to the chosen architecture.
Internal characteristics, which are checked by QA specialists responsible for software quality, include structure, complexity, readability, flexibility, testability, and the coding methods followed by the developers in the development of a website or application.
For the effective implementation of the quality assurance process, it is important to follow a set of principles. They not only ensure the most productive work of the QA specialist but also help ensure that the software consistently meets the highest quality standards.
1. Define quality standard. Initially, it's crucial to clearly define the quality standards to which any software product must ultimately conform. This process includes defining requirements, acceptance criteria, and performance indicators. All of this is agreed upon by all stakeholders, including clients for whom development is being done, as well as programmers.
2. Plan QA activities. Quality assurance is a plan of actions that will be carried out throughout the entire software development lifecycle. Besides direct testing, this also includes creating documentation. Plus, it's very important to identify responsible individuals for each task in advance.
3. Conduct reviews. Implementing quality assurance also involves engaging third-party experts who do not take direct part in the software development process. They will help identify problems at an early stage and significantly reduce costs for their subsequent correction.
4. Perform testing. Of course, QA specialists also conduct manual and automated software testing, which includes several types:
5. Monitor and measure. Monitoring and measuring software is performed throughout its development process. This concerns tracking defects, as well as tracking various indicators:
6. Improve continuously. Ultimately, it's important that the quality assurance process continuously improves to achieve maximum efficiency in professional activity in this field.
It's important to understand that various approaches can be used in the quality assurance process, and there can be many of them. The selection largely depends on the specific team or entire company that is engaged in software development for someone.
Software Quality Defect Management Approach. This approach focuses on counting software defects for effective management of them. Moreover, it also involves the classification of software issues' severity with the aid of various tools that, for instance, include defect matrices.
Software Quality Attributes Approach. The approach using software quality attributes allows developers to analyze its performance. This approach centers on drawing engineers' attention to multiple quality factors. Usually, the primary five are highlighted:
Quality Assurance (QA) is a highly significant process that genuinely ensures top-notch quality of software and guarantees that it will meet the highest standards and quality requirements. Websites and apps become reliable and effective.
QA initially requires additional expenses for initial implementation and continuous execution, but it ultimately saves money. This is especially noticeable if errors have occurred in the early stages of software development. Thus, QA also protects the developer's reputation.
Thanks to quality assurance, it's possible to create an extremely stable and competitive software product, with every block thoroughly inspected for compliance with industry standards during development. As a result of QA, websites and apps become efficient and secure.
Most importantly, the software developed by the company must satisfy the client's needs 100%. It must operate flawlessly, meet the highest data confidentiality requirements, and match expectations. And all this is just a very brief justification of why QA is so important.
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