DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Please enter at least three characters to search
Refcards Trend Reports
Events Video Library
Refcards
Trend Reports

Events

View Events Video Library

Zones

Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks

Modernize your data layer. Learn how to design cloud-native database architectures to meet the evolving demands of AI and GenAI workkloads.

Secure your stack and shape the future! Help dev teams across the globe navigate their software supply chain security challenges.

Releasing software shouldn't be stressful or risky. Learn how to leverage progressive delivery techniques to ensure safer deployments.

Avoid machine learning mistakes and boost model performance! Discover key ML patterns, anti-patterns, data strategies, and more.

Related

  • Breaking Bottlenecks: Applying the Theory of Constraints to Software Development
  • 7 Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies for Software Development Teams
  • Seamless Security Integration Strategies in Software Development
  • More Efficient Software Development Means More Need for Devs

Trending

  • Java Virtual Threads and Scaling
  • Debugging Core Dump Files on Linux - A Detailed Guide
  • Scaling Mobile App Performance: How We Cut Screen Load Time From 8s to 2s
  • Recurrent Workflows With Cloud Native Dapr Jobs

The Life of a Software Tester

Let’s find out what exactly software testing entails and take a peak into a typical day in the life of a software tester.

By 
Federico Toledo user avatar
Federico Toledo
·
Sep. 14, 16 · Interview
Likes (5)
Comment
Save
Tweet
Share
6.4K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

every sept. 9 is a day that reminds us to take a moment to celebrate testers. it’s a great day to give them a pat on the back and send them some love . it’s also a great day to give testing the recognition it deserves. if you are not very familiar with it, then this post will be a good introduction. if you are a tester, we urge you to share this post with others to inspire them to join us in the testing world! let’s find out what software testing entails and take a look at a day in the life of a software tester.

what is software testing?

essentially, the job of a tester is to help provide an organization with meaningful information about the quality of the system under test in order to reduce risk, optimize performance, and make sure it satisfies the requirements (it does what it was designed to do) and functions properly, among other things.

testers are naturally curious beings, always asking “what if” questions regarding a system.

image title

cartoon courtesy of cartoon tester

they think outside of the box, anticipating actions that users may take that others in the organization may not be planning for.

basically, without software testers, there wouldn’t be someone dedicated to finding the issues within the software of a computer, machine, program, etc. that could cause it to not work properly. thanks to qa engineers, you can instagram your vacation photos, pay bills online, or call your family over a web application quickly and seamlessly.

just like your average superhero, they are out there fighting the evil pests that disturb the functionality of the world around us. so what is their life like?

here’s a very broad view (for the purpose of this post) of what a tester does:

attend meetings

this is where they learn about the details of a project. testers need to know about their subject from the get-go. this is also where they are able to ask questions, make comments and do training related to the testing. in any project, testers should be involved right away in order to help plan testing with development, making sure to build quality into the product during every phase.

learn the requirements

testers save others’ work from errors. sometimes, a tester has to test an application that they have never interacted with before, so it can be useful for them to review the requirements set by those who do know it and provide feedback. there is always a lot of mutual learn by doing. sometimes the tester tests without the software requirements specifications and documentation. in this case, they will use exploratory testing, mind maps, and other techniques to learn more about the system.

giphy software tester

prepare for testing

by having the right requirements knowledge and/or documents, they know how to get to work and it doesn’t just happen at a flick of a snap. before executing tests, a tester must understand the technology, the data model, the risks, context, etc. this is when the tester creates the test cases and scripts and sets time for each case, among other tasks.

giphy software test planning

execute tests

woot! this is fun, but it’s not just about executing the tests. it includes getting any needed clarifications, updating scripts, reporting defects, and giving a status report.

giphy testing

during and after execution, the tester must ask many important questions:

“how would the user feel about this?”
“how can we make the user’s experience better?”
“what if…? what if…? what if…?” (there are never too many what if questions!)

clarify, investigate bugs, and get to the root cause

once bugs have been found, it is the tester’s job to explain about the reported bugs, including conducting a causal analysis. this can also cover reproducing the bug, which involves having to re-run the steps of the test to see if the problem happens again. the tester always double checks that a bug has truly been fixed before calling it “case closed.”

giphy investigate bugs

final analysis

often called retrospectives, after every great software development project, meetings are held for reflection and commentary to be made. a lot of the discussion centers around questions like, “what went right? what went wrong? how can we improve the practices and which do we need to get rid of?” these are all questions to be asked at the end of any project.

for even more things that testers do on a daily basis and how they provide value for software development teams, read this post by ministry of testing, what do software testers do?

how are you celebrating the heroic day of the software tester?

gifs courtesy of giphy

check out these related posts

  • the ultimate list of 100 software testing quotes

  • the most common mistake in the bug life cycle

Software development

Published at DZone with permission of Federico Toledo, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Related

  • Breaking Bottlenecks: Applying the Theory of Constraints to Software Development
  • 7 Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies for Software Development Teams
  • Seamless Security Integration Strategies in Software Development
  • More Efficient Software Development Means More Need for Devs

Partner Resources

×

Comments
Oops! Something Went Wrong

The likes didn't load as expected. Please refresh the page and try again.

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Support and feedback
  • Community research
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Core Program
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 3343 Perimeter Hill Drive
  • Suite 100
  • Nashville, TN 37211
  • support@dzone.com

Let's be friends:

Likes
There are no likes...yet! 👀
Be the first to like this post!
It looks like you're not logged in.
Sign in to see who liked this post!