Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control or Software Testing

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) or Software Testing (ST) are all important aspects of ensuring the quality of software products, but they have distinct roles within the software development process.

1. Quality Assurance (QA): also known as Static Testing
2. QA is a proactive process focused on preventing defects in the software development process.
3. It involves establishing processes, standards, and procedures to ensure that the development and maintenance of software meet specified requirements and standards.
4. QA activities may include defining quality standards, implementing methodologies, conducting audits, reviews, walkthroughs and establishing best practices.
5. QA is concerned with the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC) and aims to improve the development process itself to prevent defects from occurring in the first place.
   
6. Quality Control (QC) or Software Testing (ST): also known as Dynamic Testing
7. QC is a reactive process focused on identifying defects in the final product by executing the software system
8. It involves activities and techniques used to verify and validate that the software product meets defined quality standards and requirements.
9. QC activities may include testing, inspection, reporting and reviewing processes to identify defects and ensuring that the product meets the desired quality level.
10. QC is typically performed during the testing phase of the SDLC and focuses on identifying and correcting defects before the software is released to users.

In summary, QA focuses on establishing processes to prevent defects, QC focuses on identifying and fixing defects, and ST is a specific activity within QC that involves executing tests to evaluate software quality. Together, these processes and activities contribute to delivering high-quality software products to users.

User Testing vs. Specialist Testing

Business Testers typically have domain expertise but may not be as technically inclined as Software Testers. They focus on understanding the business requirements, user workflows, and expected outcomes of the software. Their testing approach often involves manual testing, where they interact with the software as an end user would, and exploratory testing, where they explore different paths to uncover potential issues or usability concerns.

User Testing typically has:

• Focus: on a personal specific target (e.g. 2 + 2 = 4)
• Approach: generic
• Time: depends on the availability and experience of the user
• Exit: the testing ends when the personal specific target is achieved

Quality Assurance Engineers and Software Testers are professionals who have a strong blend of testing skills and programming knowledge. They are adept at methodical manual tests as well as creating automated tests, developing frameworks, and integrating testing into the overall software development process. They focus on code-centric testing, which involves writing test cases and scripts or code to execute manually or automating, validate software functionality, and ensuring system stability across various scenarios.

Specialist Testing typically has:

• Focus: on a wider target, considers technique, notices system behavior, take notes, replicates
• Approach: systematic, sequential user journey
• Time: allocates testing effort according to the SUT
• Exit: the testing ends when the Functional, SIT, E2E, Regression/Confirmation and UAT is completed

In summary, while business testers bring a deep understanding of the business context and engage in manual testing, specialist testers leverage their technical expertise to execute testing processes to ensure the quality and functionality of the software throughout its testing lifecycle. Each role collaborates to achieve comprehensive test coverage and deliver high-quality software products to end users.