Transcription
Okay, welcome back guys. Today, we're going to talk about what is the difference between a QA engineer and a software tester.
Now, this topic has been discussed all over, and I see that people are struggling sort of to understand what it actually means. So, I thought it would be fun for me as well to actually digest and see from real-life scenarios to what it technically by definition means. Let's dive into it.
I think first, we should take a step back and establish what actually is a software development life cycle and how these professions actually work together in there. And so, let's just take a step back and first establish what is a software development life cycle and how it actually flows through and where these job titles actually work or fit into.
What is actually a software development life cycle, or so-called SDLC? It's actually just a software development life cycle or way how things are actually made from an idea to an actual physical product. Just the way that it flows through. And I'm going to share a picture with you, which maybe you've seen somewhere, maybe not, but this is what it looks like. There are six phases: analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. And so, all these six phases are the way how you basically get your end product.
And we are focusing right now on the testing part. This is where any QA engineers, software testers work on. Obviously, it's like a very basic way of me explaining things, but overall, this is like our phase where we actively work in. And so, now that you know how it sort of flows through and where these professions actually go under, we can now dive deeper and sort of understand what's the difference between a QA engineer and a software tester.
Right, so QA engineer, what he sort of is by definition. A QA engineer monitors every phase of the software development life cycle. And as I said prior, technically we fall under the testing, but it's not really all black and white there. We do oversee the business side, how it actually works, how it flows through until it gets to the testing. A QA engineer actually monitors that process, including design, development, testing, deployment, all these phases. He is sort of actively either overlooking or participating in some way on how he can actually help. They ensure the product meets the quality standards. By definition, this is what a QA engineer does.
A software tester, what a software tester is. So, by definition, they work to ensure that the software functions and works as intended, and no bugs are present in the final product. So, they technically sound very similar, but let's dive deeper into what is actually the difference in their sort of everyday life.
So, this is what a QA engineer actually does. QA engineer designs test plans, works on automation implementations, like oversees them, writes automation scripts if necessary, or helps out with all these approaches. Writes JQL scripts, does API testing, does manual testing, and provides feedback on the manual testing. And whatever is found, reports issues and provides UI/UX feedback based on experience. Partakes in a bunch of meetings, like maybe kickoff meetings, with product meetings, with business analysts, or people like that to understand maybe what will come out in the future. So, this is like overall what the profession entails.
So, a software tester mainly conducts manual tests. He provides feedback on the results. He reports bugs. Also gives suggestions for UI/UX feedback. Writes manual tests. Does regression testing cleanup, maintenance. Also does backlog leaning, like bugs that have piled up. And also participates in meetings, like kickoffs, dailies, all that good stuff.
Now that you see these both side by side, they're very similar. But I guess I would like to preface like the main difference that you see here. The QA engineer does more of technical items, as you can see. He does more of JQL, will automation stuff, API testing, maybe some specific tests. And he may participate in either automation part or manual or both, or whatever the company actually needs. And a software tester is more like, like when you're sort of getting started and you're just getting the hang with, you're doing a lot of manual stuff, not that technical sort of parts. But also, this is just like the definition. It doesn't mean that a software tester doesn't do that. It's just by definition, these are the sort of differences. And as you can see, they're very similar. The only difference is the technical part.
Now, I thought it would be fun if we would actually go and check out what is actually the job applications entail and what they include with the job titles. So, we could like see what's the difference between the job descriptions what companies are giving out these days.
Okay guys, so here we have opened up this QA engineer search for jobs, and we're just going to quickly check what the descriptions entail, what it actually means. And yeah, we're just going to check out what's the difference between a QA engineer and a software engineer. Right, software tester, sorry. So, let's check the first listing. Now, this is Glassdoor. This is like a global search site. And yeah, there's just a bunch of them. So, I thought this would be a great place to search. And as we can see here, for example, this QA engineer right here: "Experience in Cypress equivalent or equivalent automation system." The technical skills that we were talking about. "And understand what it means to own code quality for squad." Yeah, so obviously, there is some technical knowledge that needs is needed, necessary for this job.
Let's check out another one. For example, "Senior QA Engineer." "Significant E2E and JavaScript, solid understanding." Yep. "Expertise in Cypress, Playwright, Selenium, continuous integration and delivery." Yeah, obviously, you have to know automation as well for this role, or at least be familiar with it. And yeah, you definitely need to understand continuous integration and delivery. Um, yeah, let's check out another one. Just for a reference, you know, three things, good things, what's the saying there? So, here we also have "Familiarity with programming languages such as JavaScript, Java, and MySQL." Um, once again, well, of course, this is sort of like a possibility that you don't have it, maybe you're a good applicant in other ways, but still. "Experience with tools, Docker." And once again, technical stuff.
So, let's jump over to software tester roles and check out what they actually entail with the job descriptions in the market these days, like today, for example. So, we have, so we have same Glassdoor, just software tester. Yeah, I have remote work here, but still. Let's check out the first one right here. So, "Requirements: Manual testing, understanding of Agile Scrum, software design, testing design." Yeah, critical thinking. As you can see, no technical skills as here.
Let's check out another one. "Qualifications: Experience in game." Okay, this is a gaming company, that's why asking for. "Then understanding of software development life cycle, multiple platforms, experience with Jira." Well, that is basically what most of companies use. That's that. Let's check out another one. Still no technical items there. Let's see. "Software tester, web and software applications, problem-solving skills, proficiency in testing methodologies." And "automated test tools and frameworks is not required but a plus." See?
So, overall, my summary based on both of these professions is they're very similar, but they do entail different things. As a QA engineer, may do technical parts. It doesn't really, you're not really tied down as a software tester to not do those things either. It doesn't mean that your job title says software tester, you're not technically proficient. It's not, it's not what I mean. It's just technically these are the definitions, but every company translates them very differently. And so, you know, it's up to you to figure it out along the way. But this is sort of what it means by definition. But as we saw also previously, every company has a different job description what a QA engineer or a software tester actually means to be.
Either way, both of these professions are go hand in hand, and you can grow from a software tester to a QA engineer fairly quickly. It just depends on your skills and how you're growing them. You know, you're never sort of tied to this title. If you want to get to a QA engineer title, it's easy to climb that ladder and get there.
I hope this makes more clear. It was actually interesting to actually find the definitions and see what actually they mean, cuz I, you know, I've been questioning this thing myself for the last couple of years. Cuz as we saw, every company translates stuff differently. And so, I hope you enjoyed the video. Good to be back. See you in the next one.