Have you ever wondered of software development being slowed down because of lack of testers. Currently firms are facing shortage of experienced testers and they dont want to hire more developers because they don't have enough testers to ensure that they can ship the code they write. Software testing is a field that has always been regarded as a ‘non-happening’ option by IT professionals. The increasing significance of software testing and the demand-supply gap for professionals has changed this perception lately. The interest level in testing as a career is growing. The supply of testers is less than developers hence career progression is much more rapid. Software testing is often seen, inaccurately, as a secondary profession done by failed software developers. Industry is responsible for this situation in one way or other, they dont feel the importance of testing. Lately, faster career growth and attractive remuneration is enticing even experienced IT professionals to switch over to software testing, but can they become a good testers ??
A good tester should have following skills.
A good tester should have following skills.
- An analytical and logical frame of mind.
- A good eye for detail.
- The ability to learn quickly.
- The ability to meet tight deadlines.
- Good communication skills
- Good interpersonal skills.
Dude, all the skills mentioned above hold true for developers too.
ReplyDeleteBut Dude, if developers have 'good eye for details' then whats the need of testers.
ReplyDeleteSure, testers can have the same skills as developers... if you want them to miss all the same Design and Coding errors that the developers let slip.
ReplyDeleteIf you actually want to have a useful testing effort, the only response to your question is "get serious. No."
Mallikarjun said that testers need additional skills compared to developers, hey anonymous you did'nt seems to have made your point clear.
ReplyDeleteNow a days testers are being paid more than developers, but developers are supressing their ego by telling "So what, he is still a Tester".
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ReplyDeleteBuddhini, A good test engineer has a 'test to break' attitude, an ability to take the point of view of the customer, a strong desire for quality, and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers, and an ability to communicate with both technical (developers) and non-technical (customers, management) people is useful. Previous software development experience can be helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the software development process, gives the tester an appreciation for the developers' point of view, and reduce the learning curve in automated test tool programming. Judgement skills are needed to assess high-risk areas of an application on which to focus testing efforts when time is limited.
ReplyDeleteTesting Attitude
The purpose of testing is to discover errors. Testing is the process of trying to discover every conceivable fault or weakness in a given software. The aim is to produce a high quality product, and prevent the pain we will suffer if it's not done successfully.
Testers Hunt Errors
Good test is one that has a good probability of detecting an as yet undiscovered error, and a successful test is one that detects as yet undiscovered error.
The focus on showing the presence of errors is the *basic attitude* of a good tester. It's our job, and it is what gives us personal satisfaction. *We feel good* when we find defects, and we are thrilled when we have exceeded our error finding goal for the day or week.
*But* it's not fair to show this to developers since they would feel bad if you are attacking them.You need to work as a team. Our ultimate goal is to deliver maitainable software, within the budget, time which satisfy the customers' requirements.
* You need to set your own target of bug count.
Testers are destructive - But creative so
Testing is a positive and creative effort of destruction.
It takes
* Imagination
* Persistance
* Strong sense of mission to systematically locate the weakness in a complex structure and to demonstrate its failure.
You think like this :-)
*" I'm here to destroy the thing. I'm going to find the defects that I know are there; that's my job and that's what I'm paid to do"*
Testers pursue errors, not people
Erros are in the work product, not in the person who made the mistake. It's very common that some guys take them personally and attack you back. My database is rich with many of these exaples. :-)
Here you can have this type of relation with Developers.
" *You are specialised in development. That's what you do best. We are going to take time and help you out to find bugs in it. Together we will build better products* "
A fine balance must be struck between being adversive in the sense of finding errors in the developers' work products, and being part of a single team with them in producing the final product.
Testers add value
Testers are adding value to the software and we should involve in the testing right from the begining. This
* Save the developers from buiding products based on error ridden sources.
* Ensure that Implementation team can deliver what customer wants.
* Ensure that management gets the bottom line on the quality and finance they are looking for.
How testers do it
* By examining the internal Structure and design
* By examining the Functional User Interface
* By examining the design objectives
* By examining the user requirements
* By examining the code
* And many more .. Think about them..