In the fast-paced world of technology, where new software is developed and launched at a frenetic pace, quality has become a cornerstone of success. In this context, the role of the tester in software projects has gained even greater importance.
As user expectations increase, tolerance for errors decreases. From this perspective, imagine launching an application or system without properly testing it. The consequences could be disastrous.
This article delves deeply into the vital role testers play in software projects. We will explore why they are so essential, what they do to ensure the quality of the final product, and how their work contributes to the overall success of the project.
Follow the article and check out the topics below:
- What is a professional tester?
- The responsibilities of a tester within a project
- Is Agile Testing synonymous with agility?
- Tester: guardian of software quality
What is a professional tester?
A professional tester plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality of the final product in a software project. This individual is responsible for testing the software at various stages of development, identifying and reporting any faults.
This work starts from the initial stages of the project, where they collaborate with the development team and other stakeholders to understand the software requirements. Moreover, this understanding is fundamental for creating comprehensive test cases that cover all functionalities and possible scenarios of the system.
During development, they execute a variety of tests, including unit, integration, system, and acceptance tests. In other words, these tests are designed to validate the software’s functionality at different levels.
Thus, the process encompasses everything from individual components to the system as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to use a combination of manual and automated tests to complete all steps, ensuring broad and effective coverage.
Monitoring the software journey
Besides identifying bugs and faults, the tester also provides valuable feedback to the development team. This includes suggestions for improving the software’s usability, performance, or security.
They act as an advocate for end users and ensure the software meets their needs and expectations. As the project progresses, they continue monitoring and testing the software.
This continuous testing process is essential to maintain the software’s quality over time and to avoid regressions or new issues. Therefore, the work of this professional is crucial for the project’s success and the satisfaction of the end users.
The responsibilities of a tester within a project
Within a software project, the responsibilities of a tester are broad and varied, covering several stages of the development life cycle. Here are some of the main responsibilities of this professional:
1. Understanding the requirements: The professional collaborates with the development team and stakeholders to fully understand the software requirements. This includes identifying key functionalities, performance, security, and usability requirements.
2. Creating test cases: Based on the identified requirements, they develop detailed test cases that cover all functionalities and scenarios of the system. These test cases serve as a guide to ensure complete coverage during testing.
3. Executing tests: It is their role to execute a variety of tests at different levels of the software, including unit, integration, system, and acceptance tests. For this, they use manual and automated techniques to ensure broad and effective coverage.
4. Identifying bugs: During testing, bugs, faults, or performance issues found in the software are identified and reported. Each problem is detailed, including steps for reproduction and additional relevant information.
5. Feedback to the development team: Besides reporting bugs, the tester provides feedback to the development team on the software’s usability, performance, and security. They help identify areas for improvement and suggest solutions to identified problems.
6. Continuous testing and regression testing: As development progresses, the software is tested continuously in each iteration or version to ensure that all corrections and improvements have been properly validated. They also perform regression tests to ensure that new changes do not introduce regressions or problems that were not previously detected.
Is agile testing synonymous with agility?
When encountering the term “agile testing,” you might think it only relates to speed in software development, but it’s much more profound. In fact, this agility is directly related to the quickness with which the team can identify the right moment to change the path.
“Agile testing” aims to integrate tests into every phase of the agile development lifecycle, from planning to delivery. This means that tests are conducted continuously and iteratively, adapting to changes in requirements and functionalities as they occur.
As stated in the book “Trends in Software Testing”, agile testing is an innovative process within software development as it allows for planned integration of tests, making controlled checks at each stage on which all future decisions are based.
The differentiator is adaptability
The differentiator of Agile Testing lies in its ability to adapt and evolve in harmony with the agile principles of software development. While agile development prioritises the continuous and iterative delivery of functional software, Agile Testing complements this approach by ensuring quality is maintained at every stage of the process.
In this sense, instead of waiting until the end of the development cycle to perform tests, testers work in parallel with developers. This allows issues to be identified and corrected quickly.
Meanwhile, agile testers rely heavily on communication to compensate for the lack of detailed requirements documentation. Therefore, they develop skills to ask the right questions at the right time.
Planning also needs to be flexible
One of the advantages that puts the agile methodology ahead of the traditional development method is precisely the possibility of identifying problems along the way and making necessary changes.
The traditional method places planning as the central focus and strives for its execution, without considering anything beyond what was initially designed. The principle is that good planning will lead to excellent results.
However, this was not the case with the Iridium project, led by Motorola in the 1990s, a notable example of an ambitious endeavour that faced significant difficulties precisely because it remained faithful to the plan from start to finish.
Good planning x poor results
The idea behind Iridium was revolutionary: to create a global satellite communication network that would allow contact from anywhere in the world, even in the most remote and inaccessible areas. However, despite its innovative vision, the project faced a series of challenges that eventually led to its collapse.
One of the main problems with the Iridium project was the lack of flexibility to adapt to market changes and emerging technologies. Additionally, Motorola was committed to a rigid and expensive business model, requiring the installation of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit.
This resulted in high development and operational costs, making the Iridium service excessively expensive for most consumers. Meanwhile, terrestrial mobile technology was rapidly evolving at the time, with the emergence of more efficient and affordable cellular networks.
However, instead of adapting its strategy to compete with these emerging technologies, Motorola remained focused on developing the Iridium network, even when it was clear that the market was moving in a different direction.
Tester: guardian of software quality
The tester plays a vital role as the guardian of software quality in development projects. Throughout the stages of the software development lifecycle, they are responsible for ensuring that the final product meets the highest standards of quality, performance, and usability.
However, the tester’s role goes far beyond simply finding defects in the software. They also play an important role in ensuring the quality of the final product.
In summary, with their technical skills, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence, this professional plays a crucial role in ensuring that the delivered software is reliable, secure, and capable of meeting the needs and expectations of end users.
Here at Ubistart, we prioritise the quality and excellence of our software projects, which is why we have a multidisciplinary team composed of developers, business analysts, UX/UI designers, testers, technology leaders, and project managers. Get in touch and speak with one of our consultants.
