QA testers ensure the quality of software, web resources, mobile applications, computer games, and other digital products. These professionals engage in checking their functionality and usability directly in the development process. This allows for error correction and defect resolution without requiring much time. Therefore, the role of a tester in a company is very important, and many young specialists choose this profession.
A professional should be familiar with various types of testing and understand the basics of coding. You can learn several programming languages, primarily Java, C#, Python, HTML, JavaScript, and others. This will greatly facilitate communication with programmers and allow for maintaining automated test scripts.
The next requirement is understanding the basic models of software testing
- Waterfall: a classic model where each phase of the development life cycle begins after the completion of the previous one. It includes techno-economic justification, requirement analysis and specification, design, coding and unit testing, integration and system testing, and, finally, maintenance.
- Iterative Development: a popular model of iterative development where the sequence is more cyclical. It includes stages such as planning and requirement definition, analysis and design, implementation, testing, and evaluation.
- Agile: focuses testers' attention on what is important to the user. The work is divided into short segments, and optimal strategies are sought to achieve different task goals.
- Extreme Programming: an Agile iteration where, like in the previous case, the focus is on customer value. Here, there are rarely sequential stages with deadlines, and testing usually starts in the early stages of development. The goal is to release a perfect product as early as possible.
Tools and Methodologies for QA Testers
In addition to testing models, it is important for QA testers to have the ability to work with relevant programs. These include frameworks for product verification automation, including Appium, GitLab, Bamboo, QMetry, Robot Framework, Bitbucket, JUnit, and others. They include coding standards, test data handling methods, object repositories, testing result storage processes, and information on accessing external resources.
Special mention should be made of bug tracking tools. These can be free open-source applications or paid bug tracking and registration tools for subsequent resolution. These include Zoho, Bugzilla, Redmine, FogBugz, YouTrack, HP ALM, JIRA, Mantis, Trac, BugNET, Backlog, and others.
Certain practices and methodologies have been formed and established in the field of QA testing, which specialists use. Let's consider the two most popular approaches to software development and their analysis.
Popular approaches to software development what do QA need to know
- Agile: a methodology where developers divide the project into «sprints» or small components. These parts are easier to test, adapting to changes. This approach is very convenient as it is based on teamwork between testers and developers.
- DevOps: a practice that emerged from the combination of software development and IT operations. The goal is to automate and improve the development process. Testing is intertwined with various stages of development.
To become a QA tester without formal education, you need to take specialized online courses, for example, on the Coursera platform. You can obtain IT certificates from the Software Testing Association, Quality Assurance Society, or International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB).
Participation in professional workshops, webinars, and communities, especially on LinkedIn, internships in companies, and communication with experienced developers and testers — all of this will be a great advantage at the beginning of your career and will contribute to professional development.
Therefore, to become a QA tester, it is worth familiarizing yourself with Agile frameworks and DevOps practices, mastering basic testing models, and taking part in specialized events at the first opportunity.
