How has the role of quality assurance and testing evolved?
Judy McKay: It’s becoming more recognized as a career specialty. In beginning companies, testing is done initially by the developers. They realize they don’t like it or they’re not very good at it, so they bring in a few test people or they use the lesser developers to do testing. That doesn’t work out so well, so they bring in a test group. It evolves that way. But now you see the advent of professional testers and professional test certifications. Testing is becoming a more recognized specialty. Read an excerpt from Managing the Test People In Chapter 6, “Keeping Your Beast Effective,” Judy McKay examines the root of an effective test team. She also explores effective communication techniques and how to determine the optimal composition of your team. >> Download the excerpt What are some of the unique management issues in QA and testing? McKay: The pressure and the feeling, unfairly but truly, that they’re held responsible for quality. You can test the bejeebers out of software, but
