QA, QC FAQs

1. What is the difference between quality, Quality Control and Testing?

Quality Assurance: A set of activities designed to ensure that the development and/or maintenance process is adequate to ensure a system will meet its objectives.
Quality Control: A set of activities designed to evaluate a developed work product.
Testing: The process of executing a system with the intent of finding defects.

2. Every project need a tester ?

Which projects may not need independent test staff? The answer depends on the size and context of the project, the risks, the development methodology, the skill and experience of the developers, and other factors.

3. What is 'Software Quality Assurance'?

Software QA involves the entire software development PROCESS - monitoring and improving the process, making sure that any agreed-upon standards and procedures are followed, and ensuring that problems are found and dealt with. It is oriented to 'prevention'.

4. what is Verification and Validation?

Verification: "Are we building the product right?", i.e., does the product conform to the specifications.
Validation: "Are we building the right product?", i.e., does the product do what the user really requires

5. What are Test Deliverables?

Test Plan, Test Case, Defect-Fault, and Status Report are the sets of test deliverables in any testing phase.

6. What is a 'walkthrough'?

'walkthrough' is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes. Little or no preparation is usually required.

7. What's an 'inspection'?

An inspection is more formalized than a 'walkthrough', typically with 3-8 people including a moderator, reader, and a recorder to take notes. The subject of the inspection is typically a document such as a requirements spec or a test plan, and the purpose is to find problems and see what's missing, not to fix anything.

8. What makes a good Software Test engineer?

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.

9.How do you perform integration testing?

To perform integration testing, first, all unit testing has to be completed. Upon completion of unit testing, integration testing begins. Integration testing is black box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure distinct components of the application still work in accordance to customer requirements.

10.What's a 'test case'?

A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and an expected response, to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case should contain particulars such as test case identifier, test case name, objective, test conditions/setup, input data requirements, steps, and expected results.