Software Engineering: Tester’s Perspective

Being a member of a Test Team it is imperative to know the meaning of 'Test’. It can be safely taken as examination, experiment, assessment, investigation, ordeal, trial, analysis-leading to failures and successes. 

In IT, ‘Testing’ may be defined as an art of critical thinking which paves the way to detect variance between the actual and the expected result. So it is expected from every member of a testing team to think and think differently! Now question arises, if they think differently then what is the binding force behind them? How do they work as a team?

It is stated that in IT primary background of a sizeable number of testing professionals is non-IT. Hence they can think differently! Even testing professionals having IT background, have got expertise in some or other fields rather than software!! Most of them preferred testing unwillingly!!  It shows multicultural identity of the software testing team. It represents the true picture of ‘Unity in Diversity’ in India. This is the field which welcomes professionals from every quarters of the society!!  I heard one IT professional advising his friend…..PEHALE BANK P.O., CDS, NDA DEKH LE...KAHIN NAHIN HOGA TO TESTING MEIN AA JAANA!  So this is an assurance to all bright students which would make the future of India! It is just like Rozgar Guarantee Karyakrama of Government of India. In fact, it is better than that because to get benefitted from Employment Guarantee scheme, enrollment in voter list is a must. But in software testing anybody can become ‘TESTER’, I am sorry Test Engineer (Tester word sounds derogatory to testing team member) without having any formal degree/knowledge of testing!!

There was a time when ‘Engineer’ word was quite appealing, reputed and rare. Software engineering particularly testing played a vital role in liberating this word from the higher echelons of the society. Nowadays does it denote educated class? No… no… it doesn’t. It denotes only the literate class!! Thanks to Software Test Engineers!! One of my dev friends described this employment guarantee program as better than 11^th Five Year Plan in terms of employment generation!

Is software testing really so easy? One more thing which ignites my mind is Testing Vs Development debate. It is believed that testers are non-technical persons whereas developers are technical. Both have their own arguments in their favors and both have their own limitations. Now it has taken the shape of Generalist Vs Specialist. Development team can have a sharp vision in a particular technical arena. At the same time testing team has a broad vision which ensures overall functionality, reliability, performance, serviceability and usability of the end product.

As we know, in India most of the Government Policies failed to achieve set objectives because it has been found that these are made by so called elite class and this class doesn’t understand the language (conditions and requirements) of the common people. The testing team strives hard to test the application from end user point of view which ultimately ensures the high quality of the deliverables. It is actually the fighting spirit and killer instinct of testing fraternity which binds them together. Their logical, judgmental and persuasive abilities make them effective testing professional. Besides, testing without specification brings them closer to perfection! In a nutshell, the role of each team is supplementary and complementary to each other. We must know that Technology is as good as it serves the purpose of human needs and fulfilling this purpose should be our sole objective. 

So becoming an effective test engineer is not an easy job! Next step is sustenance and promotion. Like GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade now renamed to WTO) there are general acceptance criteria which have been laid down by private sector for promotion: Yes boss attitude! Sycophancy! Work less speak more behavior! Argumentative attitude without any sound logic or understanding of the facts! Ability to take credit for good work done by others and passing accountability on others for any wrong doings! And Social Networking (Setting)!! Quality work doesn’t matter! KAAM TO SAB KARATA HAI…KAM YA JYADA…WAISE BHI JO THODA  KAAM KARATA HAI USE GALATI KARANE  KE CHANCES  KAM HO JAATE HAIN…. So it can be overlooked!!

Women Empowerment is the need of the time in country like India, but ‘how’ is the most difficult question where society is already divided on the basis of race, religion, sex and caste. Even government of India is ensuring greater participation of weaker sections of the society in decision as well as policy making. But one should not forget that to achieve a good end (Goal), means should also be good. There is a general impression among the male counterparts that females are promoted on the basis of their gender rather than merit and hard work. This has been summarily disproved by the results in board and other examinations. Given the equal opportunity they perform equally or better. The question is- are we providing non-discriminate atmosphere in Indian offices? Do they enjoy same privilege, same network and non-frightening milieu? And finally think of an office without girls- I will be the last one to join there. Guys get over the MCP attitude.

When I was writing this blog I got a phone call from Ahmedabad. My niece, who studies in Standard VI, asked me a quiz……born in 1809…lost his mother at the age of 9….failed in his earlier  professional endeavors…. lost first election of his political career…..separated from his wife……lost his 3 years son...lost bid for Senate seat…..lost the Senate race to Democratic candidate……known for his misfortunes and failures…………….but finally became the first bearded President of that nation …………………………Who was he?

I asked her if she can tell me his name. She told…He was the 16^th President Of United States of America……he defined democracy which is regarded as the basic tenets of modern democracy (Government of the people, by the people and for the people)….and he was none other than...Abraham Lincoln: The Unforgotten Hero of Modern Democratic Era.

So failure and success are part and parcel of life. It varies over time, space and region. It is the initial failure which provides sound and everlasting foundation to grand success. We couldn’t have Missileman President Dr Kalam, the pioneer of Integrated Guided Missile Sytem in India, had he become pilot. One should keep in mind that one has to learn from mistakes and should try to avoid same mistake. There are no shortcut to commitment and sincerity. It is the noblest characters which act as a precursor to successes in life i.e. graceful in poverty, content in hunger, cheerful in grief and friendly in hostility. Who knows!  Someday visionary leadership may emerge from within us who will take the nation to a new height by his contributions to world wisdom.