This is a very special issue of LogiGear Magazine. When we were putting together the Editorial Calendar for this year, we decided that instead of a technology issue, we would focus on the human side of quality and test engineering. We want to focus on individual Test Engineers and their jobs. We talked to a variety of people who work in quality every day, in all sorts of fields. Some of these fields include government, consumer products, security, insurance, education, banking and finance, and more. We also got answers from around the world!
Testing is a multifaceted practice and process-this is one of the things that attracted me to it. It can be complicated, we design and engineer tests, not to forget “the exciting world of” product development.
It’s also quite misunderstood. Some people underestimate the creativity involved in designing tests, designing data, and even sometimes designing an environment and condition to execute those tests and apply that data. Some people also underestimate how repetitive testing is. Run a test. Change one thing. Run another test. Change one thing. Run another test.
The people coming into the field are typically those who do not understand it. It is also mistaken by people who are scheduling it, waiting for it to be done, and the people who manage it. I hope this issue gets people wondering about testing as a career, as well as a glimpse into what testing work is about. We also want to provide people who work with test teams as opposed to in test teams a view into what test teams do, in addition to what they like and do not like about their work. We tried to get as many different situations of test work as possible. Testing is very different from company to company. What passes for normal workday and common practices in one company might never happen in another company whose practices and execution may be completely unique. There are few rules in testing. There are suggestions and some guidelines, but in the end, there are no standard practices–it’s always content-driven.
In my work, I also see how varied the quality world is, from testing being an afterthought that barely happens so the product can meet a schedule, to quality running the entire development and deployment schedule on safety-critical products, and everything in between. I thought it would be a benefit to test teams and the software development world to hear this from the people who work in the software development industry, rather than a simple survey, or just me relaying other people’s experience. So, we decided to have an issue only about testers telling their story, ranging from what they like, what they don’t like, what is frustrating, and simply just what testers actually do day-to-day.
We hope you enjoy this issue. We had fun talking to so many people working in the field to develop this content. Also–it’s not over! You can join in by now going to our website and reading the other Tester Profiles submitted, as well as post your own!
