Test Engineers, counsel for... all of the above!

Sometimes people discuss test engineers and QA as if they were a sort of police force, patrolling the streets of code looking for offences and offenders. While I can see the parallels, the investigation, checking the veracity of claims and a belief that we are making things safer. The simile soon falls down.

But testers are not on the other side of the problem, we work alongside core developers, we often write code and follow all the same procedures (pull requests, planning, requirements analysis etc) they do. We also have the same goals, the delivery of working software that fulfills the team’s/company's goals and avoids harm.

"A few good men" a great courtroom drama, all about finding the truth.

Software quality, whatever that means for you and your company is helped by Test Engineers. Test Engineers approach the problem from another vantage point. We are the lawyers (& their investigators) in the court-room, sifting the evidence, questioning the facts and viewing the app from the other side’s point of view.

That's right, we are both sides; we need to show that the right job was done, but then put on a shinier suit and show the weaknesses in case. We are there to get at the truth, the details of how your app will work in the actual world is always messy and imperfect. This grey area is where your customers live, with their different data, slower devices and original use cases, and this where test engineers make their living. They play both sides to a common goal, finding out what your app is really doing, and why it might not be making you as much money as you hoped.

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