There’s a reason why the market for quality assurance analysts is expected to increase by 22% over the next decade. These days we rely on software more than ever before.
However, despite this fact, few people think about what’s involved when developing these important pieces of software. One vital component is software testing and quality assurance, or QA.
During this phase, any bugs, errors, or design problems with the software are discovered and dealt with. But, what does the software QA process look like in practice?
To give you a better idea, we made this article. In it, we’ll walk you through what the average process looks like for software developers. Let’s get started!
What is Quality Assurance Important?
Without quality, insurance testers would have too many iterations of the software. QA teams provide clear requirements for the tests, features, and how to progress. It’s important to note that QA software testing doesn’t begin right after development.
Rather, both of these phases occur at the same time. For example, it’s much easier to test a piece of code than it is to test a whole app. One immediately tells you what is wrong.
The other requires finding a needle in a haystack to figure out what is wrong.
Step One: Analysis of Requirements
It costs a lot of money to fix a bug once it’s found during testing. As such, software QA should do a preliminary analysis of requirements to prevent these bugs instead of just fixing them.
So, analysts should be involved in setting definitions for the requirements. This includes ones that are both functional and nonfunctional.
For a QA team to work efficiently, they must be supplied with definitions that are marked, consistent, all-encompassing, and traceable. This helps the team design tests that are custom-made for the software that is being created.
Step Two: Plan the Tests
Now it’s time to make a test plan. This is a basic, loose set of plans that provide broad-stroke outlines for stage three. Any data acquired during the analysis requirement phase will be used as the basis of plans.
Essentially, this plan should lay out the strategy that will be used to test the software. We recommend it include the following:
- The scope of the software testing
- The budget of the QA project
- Any deadlines for when things need to be complete
- The type of testing required
- Any methods for testing
- The level of testing required
- Any tools required for detecting bugs
- Resources
- Responsibilities of different team members
Step Three: Set Up the Tests
Now that a broad strategy for the tests has been set up it’s time to design and set up the specific tests that will be implemented. First, every test and checklist must include all of the software requirements.
Additionally, they must include things like conditions, data, and a clear set of steps that can be used to validate the functionality of each feature. Finally, every test must include a prediction of what the test results will be.
That way, they can be compared against the actual results. Most of the time, the QA team will begin with exploratory testing. This helps them get familiar with the software and design more specific test cases.
Step Four: Run the Tests and Report Bugs
Now that the tests have all been set up it’s time to run them. These tests should start at a unit level. Once those initial tests are complete, then the team can move on to UI level tests and API level tests.
On top of this, manual tests are performed with test cases that have been designed in the past. These tests are likely to bring out a lot of bugs. All bugs are then reported to the defect tracking system that is in place.
In some cases, engineers may also want to run an automated test framework. This is done to execute test scripts and generate reports.
Step Five: Re-Test and Run Regression Tests
Once all of the bugs have been identified and reported, then the developers must fix them. But, QA will want to do a second sweep to make sure that they didn’t miss any potential anomalies.
So, after the bugs are fixed they must re-test. In addition to this, they must run regression tests. These are performed to make sure that any fixes don’t interrupt the function of the software. After that, the software is ready for release testing.
Is There a Smarter Approach to Software Testing and QA?
As you can see, proper software testing and QA require a significant amount of expertise and resources. Sadly, many software companies aren’t able to bring on adequate amounts of QA analysts and testers to their teams.
This has the potential to ruin otherwise perfect software. So, what’s the solution? The secret is to bring on software testing solutions like QualityLogic.
This onshore solution is not only twice as efficient as offshore solutions, but it’s also more affordable. That’s because you only pay for the services that you need.
What’s more, it allows you to maintain the control you need and bring the product to market much more quickly. So, what are you waiting for? Contact them today to make your life easier.
Enjoy Learning About the Software QA Process? Keep Reading
We hope this article helped you learn more about what the typical software QA process looks like. As you can see, the QA process can be a bit tedious. It involves numerous tests.
Then, further tests to confirm that any problems in the past tests were fixed. But, at the end of the day, it’s a vital part of software development. Without it, we would have broken, unusable software.
So, businesses should always prioritize QA services when developing software. Did you enjoy this article? If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place. Keep exploring to find more content that you’re sure to love.
