As June draws to a close, here are a few interesting stories from the related worlds of software development and QA. If you want to check out last month’s news, simply click on this link. Hopefully, this month’s edition offers some insights relevant to your daily development and testing work.
We’ve talked previously about the growing adoption of Agile and DevOps methodologies by companies hoping to gain a competitive advantage through faster software development. Many of these firms strive for a continuous deployment model where software enhancements happen at a rapid pace.
So how does the QA process keep up? Enter continuous testing.
Many forward-looking companies are beginning to leverage continuous testing to ensure software gets released at a speed letting them successfully compete in the modern business landscape. Ashley Dotterweich recently talked about the emerging practice for DevOps Zone. Faster release cycles, better code, and ultimately a decreased risk of production failures are its major impacts.
One of the key steps in implementing continuous testing involves shifting QA to the left. In short, this involves starting testing earlier in the software development process in the hope of catching problems at a point before a fix becomes too costly. Some would argue a QA presence also needs to be involved during the requirements gathering and design phases.
The use of a continuous integration server infrastructure to execute unit tests also facilitates the implementation of continuous testing. Other forms of automated testing need to be considered as part of a migration to this new testing model. It is something worth considering for organizations hoping to achieve continuous deployment.
A myriad of AAA video games suffering from high profile bugs and server hiccups over the last year has led to a call for standardized QA practices in the industry. James Batchelor covered the growing issue in a recent post on Develop, a game industry website. Many testing managers in gaming feel standards are vital for keeping (or regaining) the trust of video gamers.
Testology CEO, Andy Robson, commented on the growing problem caused by a lack of QA standards. “Why do we think it is acceptable to release games that don’t meet the quality level consumers expect? We should have a standard where no Class A bugs are released in a product along with Class B bugs, whether functional or LOC issues. Class C bugs are always going to be in games, but don’t affect the experience, so we could be more lenient,” said Robson.
Stay tuned to see if their efforts at standardized QA are successful.
A recent study noted the average age for the software developer is under 30. Nick Heath, writing for Tech Republic, wondered if this was due to a glut of new programmers entering the industry or if older developers are leaving? Natalia Radcliffe-Brine, marketing manager at Stack Overflow feels it is the former trend.
“I don’t think it’s that the older developers aren’t there anymore, I think there’s been momentum around technology and you’ve got so many more young people going into computer science,” said Radcliffe-Brine. Whatever the reason behind the hard data, there’s no denying the right mixture between younger workers excited about the industry and the wisdom of veteran developers is a smart call when building an efficient development team.
Stay tuned to the Betica Blog for additional news and insights from the world of software development and testing.
Posted on July 1, 2016 | Categories News | Tags Continuous Testing, Game Development, News, Quality Assurance, Software Development, Standardized Testing Practices