Software Testing – Key Differentiators Between Quality Assurance & Quality Control

“All code is guilty until proven innocent.” – Anonymous

Yes! In the world of software development, unless the testing is performed, to be sure about the quality of any product, the product is considered to be flawed.

Do you know, the Knight Capital Group, the American global financial services, lost $460 million in just 45 minutes as a consequence of deploying untested software to their production environment, landing it on the edge of bankruptcy! The company that invested 17 years of time and dedication to develop as one of the top trading houses on Wall Street, was now shattered to bits within one hour. All because of a faulty software. What a tragedy!

The fate of the company turned out to be a lesson for one and all in software development industry – A software product should not be deployed without undergoing the testing process.
It is a significant process that lets the developer be sure about their creation, and enables them to deliver their product with confidence. At the same time, the customer also needs to be nonchalant about their buy.

The process is performed considering certain metrics on the basis of which the product quality is determined. Software testing is an inevitable part of the development process, that helps in the assessment of functionality of the software product, and ensuring it’s free from any error.

Well, talking of software testing process, you must have come across the related terms – Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC). Don’t they confuse? They sound same, but no they are different owing to a very thin line of differentiation between the two, though having the same objective – to deliver the product free from errors or defects. Let’s darken that line, understanding the key differentiators.