Software Quality Assurance
Authored by Vijayaprabhu Valluvan
Under Software Quality Knowledge Area
6 min to read
Table Of Contents #
Name of Skill #
Software Quality Assurance
Introduction #
Software Quality Assurance(SQA) is a set of activities for ensuring quality in software engineering processes that ultimately results, or at least gives confidence, in the quality of software products.
Software quality may refer to desirable characteristics of software products, to the extent to which a particular software product possess those characteristics, and to processes, tools, and techniques used to achieve those characteristics. It is a part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled.
Classification of Skill #
Software Quality Assurance is an umbrella activity which is employed throughout the software lifecycle. Software quality assurance is very important TECHNICAL SKILL for every software product or service to succeed in the market and survive up to the customer’s expectations.
SQA has two aspects:
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Product Assurance
SQA product assurance activities make certain to provide evidence that software products and related documentation are identified in and comply with contracts; and ensure that nonconformances are identified and addressed
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Process Assurance
SQA process assurance activities make certain that the processes used to develop, install, operate, and maintain software conform to contracts, comply with any imposed laws, rules, and regulations and are adequate, efficient and effective for their intended purpose
Prerequisites for Skill #
Skills one should posses in order to be a good software quality assurance engineer:
Creative thought process #
A good software quality assurance engineer must be creative in their thought process.One must be able to come up with potential problems that a user might encounter when running the software and develop solutions for those problems before the software is released.
Knowledge of Testing Techniques #
Gain an understanding of software QA methodologies, tools, and processes, knowledge of SQL and scripting, working experience in software development and software quality assurance, and keep current with current trends and latest advancements
Good Communication skills #
Excellent communication skills are also needed. Being able to explain why one programming solution works over another is needed when working with programmers of different personalities.
Ability to work as part of a team #
Must understand and appreciate their goals and objectives and, in some cases, explain problems and necessary solutions.
Time management skills #
Part of working on a team means working within other people’s timelines and finishing your work within reasonable deadlines. keeping on schedule can require strong time management skills.
Related Software Engineering Area(s) #
Software Configuration Management #
Software configuration management (SCM) is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organizes the development process. It simultaneously maintains the current state of the software, while enabling developers to work on new versions for features or fixes.
Software Testing #
Software Testing is an activity to check whether the actual results match the expected results and to ensure that the software system is Defect free. It can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software implementation.
Software Maintanence #
Software maintenance is a part of Software Development Life Cycle. Its main purpose is to modify and update software application after delivery to correct faults and to improve performance. It stands for all the modifications and updations done after the delivery of software product.
Rationale for Skill #
SQA testing is essential for each development phase of a software product until its final release. Without SQA, the software development process would be continued until the end, ignoring the errors that may have appeared in one of these phases. With the help of a QA engineer, this problem does not occur, and errors are corrected on time. It ensures that a software product was developed in a high-quality manner. The practices present in SQA can be implemented in almost all types of software development, not taking into account the model which is used for it.
The quality of the product is checked #
Quality assurance testing is highly necessary to ensure that the product meets the standards and it is fully operational, no bugs, glitches or errors included. If these are found in an earlier process, they can be fixed on time and the risk of failure is reduced tremendously.
Saving money and time #
When fixing bugs in an early stage of the process, additional expenses and a lot of wasted hours are saved. A fully failed software will cost the team a lot more to fix and it might require starting from scratch.
Improving the UX #
The User Experience is a critical factor when developing software applications. UX issues must be fixed earlier in the process so that users don’t get to experience them with the final product. An SQA engineer makes sure that such issue is never encountered, and using the software app is easy and intuitive.
Improving customer satisfaction #
The same goes for customer satisfaction. A software QA engineer will make sure that the user is happy with the final product. If the user finds the product reliable and easy to use, it was a success.
Organizing the activities better #
Software quality assurance makes sure that the whole software development process is well-organized. All phases and activities are tested after they are finished, which leaves room for improvements and fixes. Thus, the QA engineers keep the activity efficient and hierarchic.
Roles for Skill #
Software quality analyst, Software quality assurance engineer, SQA tester and SQA developer are some of the roles for this skill. They intend to perform the following activities.
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Management reviews evaluate actual project results with respect to plans.
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Technical reviews (including inspections, walkthrough, and desk checking) examine engineering work-products.
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Process assurance audits.
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Product assurance audits.
Here are some job postings for SQA skill
- https://www.mindgeek.com/careers/?gh_jid=4741668002
- https://orolia.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=284
- https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1796698176/
Work Related to Skill (Related Activities and Artifacts) #
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Creating an SQA Management Plan
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Setting the Checkpoints
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Apply software Engineering Techniques
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Executing Formal Technical Reviews
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Product Evaluation and Process Monitoring
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Controlling Change and Measuring Change Impact
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Performing SQA Audits
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Maintaining Records and Reports
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Service after delivery of the software
Real-World Example/Scenario of Skill (Text, Graphic, Audio, Video) #
Quality assurance teams are responsible for reporting quality incidents and metrics to a governance board on a regular basis.
Security - A telecom company experiences regular security incidents that are reported to the executive team by quality assurance. While information security generally falls under the IT team, quality assurance sponsors a variety of cross-department information security initiatives such as defensive computing training.
Telecom QA Manual: http://firsttimequalityplans.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1043_Telecommunications_QualityManual_Sample.pdf
Systems - An internet banking website has availability of 98.7% with individual pages that are as low as 93.4%. The target and industry standard is for availability of 99.99%. Marketing teams complain that they are losing customers. The quality assurance team investigates the issue and identify several lapses in service management processes and systems. They sponsor a program to address the issue.
LTI Blog about QA in banking: https://www.lntinfotech.com/blogs/quality-assurance-testing-age-digital-banking/
Manufacturing - Quality control samples at a Car manufacturer indicate dropping engine quality in every batch produced over the past 3 weeks.Quality assurance investigates and finds that a supplier has changed the materials in a part. They push the supplier to fix the problem.
Atlas Copco Industrial Tools & Solutions QA process:
Role of Academia or Industry in Cultivating the Skill #
Quality assurance programs at colleges and universities teach students the techniques and practices needed to ensure certain levels of quality and also to help increase customer satisfaction, business efficiency and overall profit.
Courses will focus on:
- Including QA in business plans and strategies
- Performing a variety of quality audits
- Following international standards of quality
- Managing relationships with customers and suppliers
- Identifying the cost of quality
Students will learn to design tests and interpret results to gain valuable information about a business’s processes, products and services.
Many quality assurance programs also offer co-op work terms or field placements, where students will apply what they’ve learned in one of many industries using QA. Companies in all areas of business and industry employ quality assurance personnel.
Tools Supporting the Skill #
- Selenium
- Jenkins
- GitHub
- Postman
- Ranorex
Skill Self-Assessment (My Skill Score (1 – 10) and Reasons for Self-Assigned Score) #
My Skill Score - 7
In the Learning phase of how the SQA process works and how to apply SQA skill on the software projects. Haven't been exposed to much of Software Quality Assurance projects.