What software testers do
Finding problems before customers do
A bug in software can be a small embarrassment — a spelling mistake — or a disaster: charging customers the wrong amount, losing orders, locking people out. Software testing is checking that software does what it should, and finding where it doesn't, before real people rely on it.
What a tester's day looks like
- Reading what a new feature is meant to do, and asking questions when it's unclear
- Planning and writing test cases — the checks to run
- Exploring the software, trying what real people (and careless people) might do
- Writing bug reports so developers can fix problems quickly
- Re-testing fixes, and checking that nothing else broke
- Telling the team how ready the software is to release
- More and more, writing automated tests that the computer runs again and again
Job titles you'll see
| Title | Usually means |
|---|---|
| QA tester, software tester, test analyst | Designs and runs tests, mostly by hand. A common entry point |
| QA engineer, test automation engineer | Also writes automated tests in code |
| SDET (software developer in test) | A developer who specialises in testing tools and automation |
| UAT tester, business analyst | Checks software meets the business's needs before it goes live |
"QA" means quality assurance. Strictly, QA is about improving the whole process so fewer bugs happen, and testing is one part of it — but most job ads use the words for the same thing.
What makes a good tester
- Curiosity — "what happens if…?"
- Attention to detail — noticing that $4.8 should be $4.80
- Clear writing — a bug nobody can reproduce doesn't get fixed
- Thinking like different users — someone in a hurry, someone using a screen reader, someone on an old phone
- Tact — you're criticising someone's work, so be kind and factual
Some truths about testing
- Testing shows bugs are there — it can't prove there are none. "We tested it" never means "it's perfect"
- You can't test everything. Even a small form has millions of possible inputs, so testers choose wisely
- Test early. A problem found while planning costs far less to fix than one found by customers
- Bugs cluster. Where you find one, look for more
- Software with no bugs can still be useless if it doesn't do what people need
These ideas come from ISTQB, the international organisation that sets the best-known testing certifications (in Australia and New Zealand, through ANZTB). This course covers many of the same topics, but its certificate is from Avro Academy — the ISTQB Foundation Level certificate is a separate paid exam.
Try it
Download the practice files and unzip them. You'll open the app properly in lesson 3.
Downloads
1 file to download once you enrol.