Is testing a waste of time or a necessary step in ensuring a system’s performance? Nobody wants to pay additional revenue for testing services that may only confirm that the software works as expected with no critical flaws. You’ve hired executives and higher developers with a lot of experience, including a strong CV, and you’ve paid them a lot of money to get high-quality results. There are no bugs or glitches. The code is clear and functional. Why should you spend extra money on a QA team to check the work of your coding experts? Isn’t it a valid question?

What if your project budget allows you to hire only developers whose experience and skills raise a few concerns? Your QA team will compensate for the lack of required knowledge. Will you consider software testing to be an essential prerequisite in this scenario? Yes, most likely, because testers can reveal serious system bugs that may prevent the product from functioning properly. You thank God for hiring a QA team or outsourcing your testing activities. So, is testing a waste of time or a valuable resource?

Manually or automatically?

The testing itself can be carried out manually by individuals or automatically by computer systems. There is a fair number of disputes on the topic of which one is better.

Eventually, it will depend on the task at hand and the industry to decide which method is more suitable.

Automation may, at first, take longer to set up, but it can save a lot of time and money in the long run.

Frankly, it’s important to have skills in either area. To ensure that the product is of the highest level of quality, manual testing could be your thing. The extremely essential exploratory testing is very often carried out by manual tests. This type of testing can’t be replicated by automation.

Testers are responsible for finding and identifying issues that could impact the product’s work. This is an especially important task before the product is released, at the last stages of development. If any of the features fail testing, it needs to be reworked, and then retested. Ultimately, when the issues are identified, testers and developers work to get it fixed, and then the process of testing is repeated to ensure that the problem is gone.

Butterfly Effect in Software

Almost everyone has heard of the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory. In other words, a butterfly that flies in one corner of the globe may cause a tornado in the opposite corner. If you make a minor change to your application’s user interface or make a minor change to the code, you may break the entire system. Is it similar to the Butterfly Effect? Here is another example, a misunderstanding of the customer’s requirements or misconceptions at the stage of analyzing the market results in a faulty interpretation of the data, a reduction in code quality and improper operation of the finished product. A minor misunderstanding makes its way through the stages of analysis, development and testing. It can sometimes result in huge losses and even the failure of a business. These are some examples of the Butterfly Effect in Software.

Similar to the Butterfly Effect, there is the Domino Effect in software development and testing. The mechanism is the same – you change something, for example, in the system requirements. This change causes similar changes to occur nearby, and everything occurs in a logical sequence. In comparison to the Butterfly Effect, the Domino Effect is more scalable. However, they both have an impact on the final return on investment and are a nightmare for every customer, developer, tester and manager. Remember the proverb, “garbage in, garbage out” to avoid the Domino Effect.

Some people believe that testing activities are too costly. They are certain that testing has a negative impact on the quality of the final product. When developing a simple mobile application, or when one is sure that users will not use it widely, I completely agree that testing is a waste of time.

However, if you are developing a solution for the healthcare, e-commerce, or banking industries, testing can protect you from irritated users and even a court of law.

Why is it important to test software?

Testing is important since it discovers defects/bugs before delivery to the client, which guarantees the quality of the software. It makes the software more reliable and easier to use. Thoroughly tested software ensures reliable and high-performance software operation.

The output of your solution is entirely dependent on the number of people who use it. The greater the number of users, the greater the benefit. However, the greater the number of users your app has, the more complaints you can get in the event of a bug. A media controversy happens when a mistake affects fewer than 1% of all Google or Facebook users. On August 23, 2017, users were unable to launch Facebook. Probably, you remember that issue.

Toyota was also affected by a software error. Cars had a problem with the anti-lock brake system. In other words, the automobiles had no brakes. Toyota recalled over 8 million cars and lost $3 billion.

During a routine device refresh, Starbucks encountered a software problem. About 135,000 stores were unable to fulfill orders. Many people went without a cup of delicious coffee due to a minor software bug.

Due to an internal technical problem at the New York Stock Exchange, all open orders were canceled. For four hours, the stock traded was unavailable.

A prestigious preparatory school in Great Britain, Eton College, had to admit only 9 boys. But because of a system error, 400 families received acceptance letters. The college had to inform these “happy” families about bad news.

There are hundreds of such examples where a software error has harmed the credibility of reputable sources and well-known corporations.

Are you still convinced that testing is an area where you can cut corners?

How much testing is excessive?

Investing in a significant amount of software testing can be challenging to justify. For every line of software code written, an organization should allocate at least an equal amount of developer time and lines of code to test the software created. With constant pressure to launch quickly, it’s tempting to reduce the amount of testing. However, this may come at the expense of the product’s quality. Bugs can result in a poor user experience and significantly damage the brand’s reputation. Therefore, the commitment to delivering a high-quality product should be evident throughout the entire development process. Investing in appropriate resources, such as tests, tools, and people, is a wise decision and can yield great results.

Conclusion

Testing is essential and often critical to delivering a high-quality product with a lower chance of failure after its release. Whether manual or automatic, testing provides vital information and should always be conducted properly.