Jobs in IT: Software Tester

In our last article in the series “Jobs in the IT industry” we introduced the topic of DevOps. Today’s post is about software testing. For this we spoke with Marta, who who plays an important role in our Quality Assurance team.

What does software testing mean?

Software tesitng is part of the development process and is used to check the functionality of the software and fix any defects. There are a variety of helpful tools with which Testing can be performed manually or automated.

Types of software testing

We distinguish between functional and non-functionale tests.

Withfunctional tests we can ensure, if the software includes all the functionalities that were specified before. We want to make sure, that the software does what it shoud do.

Non-functional tests check other parameters like security, resilience and stability. Non-functional tests are tests lke for example penetration tests, performance- and stress tests and desaster/recovery tests.

There are a number of factors that speak in favor of testing a software extensively before its deployment. One of these factors is security: security testing can be used to ensure that the customer receives trustworthy software in which personal data is processed securely. Because of european guidelines (EU-GDPR) this becomes more and more important. Another factor is quality: testing should be done to ensure that the software actually has all the desired product requirements and that it functions without errors.

Increasing customer satisfaction

In addition Software Testing increases the customer satisfaction. Only if the customer receives a solution, that is mostly free of bugs,can be used perfectly from a usability point of viewand no failures are to be expected, will he be satisfied with the software

Usability (UX/UI) is another part of the process of software development, which we will write about in our series “Jobs in IT”.

Agile software development

Today, software development mostly takes place in an agile manner. The development process is divided into phases, and testing is one of them. If tests are carried out at an early stage and not just once after completion of the solution, weak points can usually be eliminated more easily. The practice of test driven development even provides for the planning and description of tests before the start of the actual development.

Nevertheless, there is the cliché of the software tester, who is feared by his developing colleagues because he tracks down every bug, no matter how small, and thus makes the developers’ work look bad.

What do our testers themselves have to say about this? We talked to Marta.

An insight into the job of a software tester

Marta came to our site in Wroclaw (Poland) after working for a German company. What she really likes about her position at Vialutions is that she has contact with Polish customers, but she also continues to work with German customers and can thus improve her language skills. What she enjoys most about working as a software tester is the constant learning and improvement of her own skills. Ironically, she is especially happy when she finds a bug, not out of schadenfreude, but because every bug that is found can be fixed, making the software more secure, stable and functional.

At the beginning, Marta worked at Vialutions purely as a software tester. In the meantime, she also provides support in the area of business analysis. She is the single point of contact for a number of customers, discussing expectations and requirements in regular meetings and coordinating them with developers and testers.

Marta’s focus is testing healthcare software. On the one hand, the challenge is compliance with certain standards and guidelines. On the other hand, these are mostly applications that make doctors’ and patients’ work and lives easier, and it is a good feeling to be part of this development process.

Testing challenges

Even though she enjoys this role, she most enjoys testing software herself. As a difficulty in the role of software tester, Marta finds it difficult to understand some documentation, especially when the solution is not programmed by our developers. This documentation is often written in a different language or very awkwardly. But through the exchange within the team, every problem has been solved so far.

Marta is also very much interested in AI in the process of testing software. She believes that AI is the future of the IT and constantly expands her knowledge about it.

Conclusion

Software testing is an important phase in the entire software development cycle and should be performed continuously. Even though the search for vulnerabilities or bugs sometimes feels like looking for a needle in a haystack,the joy of discovering a bug is all the greater. Because this way we can ensure that our customer receives a secure, stable solution that meets his requirements.