What is the importance of software testing for IT process excellence?

Quality control is still widely overlooked. Although it brings undeniable benefits to any product or service, it’s still seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. In this article, I’ll explain what quality control really is and how it adds value to the software development process.

Software testing is as old as software development itself. By definition, the goal of testing is to find errors in a program so it works according to the end user's requirements.

In the beginning, testing was a minor process, but things began to change around the 2000s with the emergence of home computers — the so-called “Personal Computers.” PCs and their specifications, both hardware and software, varied greatly. This made it necessary to prepare programs that worked the same way across all machines.

This is even more evident today with app stores for iOS and Android, as well as different software versions for computers running Windows or Mac OS, for example.

Another factor that added value to testing was the commercialization of software and the growing need for frequent releases and updates to keep customers satisfied with regularly improved products. This same need led the industry to adopt more flexible approaches for the continuous management of software development, moving away from predictive models. New adaptive models brought the agility needed for these processes.

Testing is an integral part of the software development lifecycle and helps developers detect problems quickly. Fixing bugs before the software reaches the end user is part of improving quality.

Some may think that testing is an unnecessary addition to the development process. Can’t developers check if the app is working or not? Is it really that hard to find bugs? As much as we appreciate clean code, even the most skilled programmers won’t be able to find all bugs on their own — and there are some good reasons for that.

A developer’s job is to write the code: when a developer works on a feature, they are far from being objective about it. There are some things the developer simply won’t think of — being responsible for the technical part, they might sometimes overlook user experience (UX) issues. A quality assurance (QA) engineer, on the other hand, is trained to do exactly that: to find problems in the software. They are much more impartial in the process, which definitely makes problem detection easier. Moreover, a QA engineer can focus exclusively on bugs in the program, while a developer deeply involved in the project might brush aside several bugs across millions of lines of code.

Quality assurance is more than just checking for bugs. It helps ensure that the client receives a high-quality product that meets all requirements. Although it may initially seem like an extra expense, it quickly proves to be a necessary part of the development process — one that can actually save money in the long run, since detecting defects early helps prevent failure during maintenance.

What are the main benefits of quality control?

Quality Testing allows you to identify and fix bugs before the software becomes operational. When bugs are found early in the development process, the cost of fixing them is much lower, and the risk of future failures is significantly reduced. Delivering a high-quality product translates into more benefits for the provider.

Not testing the software is merely a false economy. In reality, testing can help you avoid costs that you would face if your software failed during production or maintenance.

User Experience (UX) is something that truly matters in any application, but UX-related issues can still be accidentally overlooked by developers. Testing ensures the application is simple, intuitive, and of course, error-free.

Having a bug-free application helps build customer satisfaction, as the product is perceived as valuable and trustworthy.

Quality control promotes organization and efficiency. By integrating quality control from the beginning of the software development process, you can test your application as it’s being built. This will help you avoid many problems, including defective software and rushed fixes.

The main goal of development is to launch a profitable product, and at first glance, quality assurance may seem unrelated to this goal. But it bears repeating: in reality, quality control is a significant part of the software development process and adds great value to every product.

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