The Role of QA Testing in Custom Software Development
In an era where software solutions have become the backbone of businesses across industries, delivering high-quality, reliable, and user-centric software cannot be overstated. And its quality is no coincidence. It is always the result of hard thinking and a well-developed strategy.
From uncovering hidden defects to enhancing user experiences and ensuring compliance with industry standards, join us on this captivating journey as we explore the multifaceted significance of QA testing and how it unlocks excellence in the ever-changing landscape of software development.
Whether you’re a seasoned software professional or a curious enthusiast, this article is your gateway to understanding the indispensable role of QA testing and its impact on building exceptional software solutions. Let’s dive deep into the realm of QA testing and its pivotal role in shaping the success of custom software development projects.
What is quality assurance in software engineering?
The software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process that defines the steps required at each phase of software development. It contains a detailed plan to build, deploy and maintain the software.
Quality assurance (QA) testing is one of the most critical stages in software development as it helps to ensure the final product’s quality and prevent problems from occurring. It ensures that your software solution will be delivered to the market with an unparalleled user experience, setting you apart from the competitors.
What is the role of quality assurance in software development?
The primary objective of QA in software development is to identify and prevent defects or bugs throughout the software development lifecycle, from the initial requirements-gathering phase to the final release. Organizations can deliver software solutions that meet client expectations and provide a seamless user experience by implementing effective QA practices.
In the software development process, QA teams are responsible for various types of testing. They can conduct functional testing to validate that the software meets the specified requirements, as well as performance testing to assess its stability and responsiveness under high load conditions. QA professionals also do regression testing to ensure new features or changes don’t introduce unintended issues. Moreover, they can do usability testing to guarantee an intuitive and user-friendly interface and security testing to identify vulnerabilities and the software solution against potential threats.
The logic behind the work of quality assurance engineers is based on revealing malfunctions in the developed solution to timely fix them and release bug-free software. However, QA work is not limited to testing only a developed software product. Ideally, the QA process begins long before the development phase and does not end even after the product has been released, but is constantly being further developed with the product and adapted to the prevailing industry standards.
Quality Assurance Process Steps: Software Testing Stages
Quality assurance in software testing can be challenging. Testing is fundamental to quality assurance, and running the proper tests is vital for well-functioning software. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to QA. Unit, smoke, or regression tests, to name just a few, all have to be applied at the right time. That’s why it’s essential to be specific and understand the differences between the various types of tests.
Also, testing can take a long time. Even with automated testing, the testing activities can be the most time-consuming aspect. So if something goes wrong with the planning or the test method, it can result in a considerable loss of time. Therefore, optimizing the test strategy is crucial.
Given an optimized strategy, the QA team should view quality assurance as a predetermined set of product development phases. The team should follow relevant practices from the development phase to software release and beyond, and below, we highlighted the basic STLC process stages.
Phase 1: Planning
During the planning phase, QA engineers determine the requirements for the project. A thorough understanding of the feasibility of the project requirements is necessary, as well as a plan for addressing and verifying results.
When the planning phase is complete, there must be a test plan that covers critical areas of the project deliverables.
Phase 2: Implementation
During the implementation phase of the STLC, the QA team creates detailed test cases or test scripts. Test scripts should use the requirements identified during the planning phase. Each script should be based on a business process or critical function in the product.
At the end of the implementation phase, you should have test scripts that cover all the main project requirements, each based on a real business process addressed in the product.
Phase 3: Execution
During the execution stage, the team performs the tests. QA engineers log the deviations and identify the defects. They strictly follow the test plans developed in the first phase and must log any detected discrepancies, defects, bugs, problems, or errors. Defects and discrepancies should be assigned to the test cases and then retested to ensure the validity of the test results.
At the end of the execution phase, the entire test plan should be complete. Any defects present should be identified and documented.
Phase 4: Evaluation
In the evaluation phase, the team reports, monitors, and analyzes the errors found in the execution phase. The status of each error is documented in the project log.
The evaluation phase should include an examination of the bugs so the team can better understand the impact on the product and the risk and effort involved in fixing them. This allows the team to make proactive troubleshooting decisions and better control the project’s cost.
What Are The Types Of Software Testing?
Test-driven development
In some areas, custom software development companies use Test Driven Development (TDD) principles. The point here is that the QA team defines the necessary tests before even a single line of code is written. This helps to better think through the development, including the structure and necessary classes.
Unit testing
Regular unit tests, i.e., tests of individual functions and algorithms, ensure the software’s functionality, especially after updates. The advantage of this type is that the code always works as it should, and when changes are made, it is immediately clear whether unwanted effects occur.
All unit tests are automatically performed as part of continuous Integration on the build system as soon as the source code is checked in on the main development branch. Any developer can also run them in their development environment.
Manual testing
In rare cases, the QA team may also carry out manual function tests in addition to the unit tests. However, these are very time-consuming, so they are only used in developing individual features or in exceptional cases in the event of errors.
Acceptance testing
By agile development principles, new versions are regularly made available to the customer for further development. Individual acceptance tests are often agreed upon to ensure the customer can work properly with the program. Quality assurance engineers use these tests for new interfaces or new custom features.
Integration testing
Integration testing ensures the seamless interaction and compatibility of diverse software components or modules, fostering a robust and cohesive software ecosystem. It aims to detect issues arising when integrating multiple units or systems.
Performance testing
Performance testing assesses the software’s responsiveness, scalability, and resource usage under varying workloads. It helps identify bottlenecks or performance issues and ensures the software performs optimally.
Regression testing
QA teams perform regression testing to validate that recent changes or enhancements to the software do not introduce new defects or break existing functionality. It ensures that previously working features continue to work as intended.
Why is QA important in software development?
The foremost priority in software development is meeting and satisfying customers’ requirements, fostering loyalty and referrals while building trust and enhancing your overall image. Moreover, it saves valuable resources by avoiding costly errors and reducing time spent rectifying them.
Quality assurance ensures adherence to quality management specifications, promoting a functional and efficient quality management system. By prioritizing quality, software development companies gain a competitive edge and distinguish themselves from others in the market.
Moreover, for the end customer, quality assurance can help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes, minimize risks, increase customer satisfaction, and ensure the company’s long-term success. Now, let’s discuss the main benefits of software testing services.
Cost Savings
By proactively identifying and addressing software defects and issues early in the development cycle, quality assurance minimizes the risk of costly rework and post-production bug fixes. Through comprehensive testing, QA ensures that the software meets all functional requirements, thereby reducing the likelihood of user-reported errors or dissatisfaction that could result in expensive customer support or loss of business.
Moreover, by uncovering performance bottlenecks and optimizing the software’s efficiency, QA helps companies avoid the expense of investing in additional hardware resources. By investing in quality assurance upfront, business representatives can mitigate financial risks, enhance customer satisfaction, and ultimately achieve long-term cost savings in custom software development.
High Product Quality
Quality assurance includes performance testing to evaluate how the software performs under different conditions and loads. By conducting stress, load, and scalability testing, QA helps identify performance bottlenecks, resource limitations, and potential system crashes. Addressing these issues improves software performance, stability, and reliability, resulting in higher product quality that meets or exceeds performance expectations.
Customer Satisfaction
Quality assurance focuses on usability testing, ensuring the software is intuitive, user-friendly, and provides a seamless user experience. Through usability assessments, QA identifies potential pain points, navigation challenges, and interface issues, allowing for improvements that enhance user satisfaction.
By prioritizing customer satisfaction, quality assurance contributes to higher product quality that meets the needs and expectations of end-users. Satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal advocates, positively impacting the business’s reputation and competitiveness in the market.
Risk Mitigation
Last but not least, quality assurance improves the company’s risk management. Due to custom IT projects’ uniqueness and high complexity, they’re not free of risks and are subject to significant uncertainties. These often become noticeable at the most inopportune time and can severely disrupt the planned course of the project.
Quality assurance helps to avoid the following problems:
- Human errors that occur due to insufficient qualifications or a lack of willingness to perform on the part of the staff involved in the IT project.
- Insufficient status information or control of project work can cause severe damage. It is important to counteract this with suitable procedures (e.g., regular status reports on project progress) with transparent statements.
- Incorrect coordination and error-causing communication processes can significantly degrade the quality of the project results — especially the quality of developed applications.
Conclusion
Quality costs money, but a lack of quality costs more. Business users are demanding more value and higher quality from software products. Bugs, defects, and failed releases increase risk and expose the company to losses.
Although tests are usually time-consuming, they bring great long-term benefits by reducing the effort for changes or support.
Selecting a bespoke software development provider with a proven track record, clear communication channels, and a solid understanding of the organization’s domain is crucial. This mitigates the risks associated with outsourcing and maximizes the chances of achieving a high-quality software product that meets both functional and non-functional requirements.
