One Thing you Require: Tech Perfection
An aircraft has 1617 subsystems and 19 million lines of codes. Locating a defect is, therefore, like looking for a pin in a haystack. So, who does an airline depend on to keep the flying machines in ship-shape condition? The answer would be an IT tester, who is a professional who will perhaps know more about the aircraft than the man piloting it.
That's not all. People in this business are required to do a lot of firefighting. If the software used in the stock market were to crash tomorrow, the guy who may have the antidote to set it right is again an IT tester. He is literally a jack of all trades and a master of everything tech.
IT testers have to ensure that any new software produced is up to mark before it is delivered. Defects in the systems are also serviced by them.
Pradeep Chennavajhula, an IT tester, took up this profession after being in the field of software development and programming for several years. "Many customers I was dealing with were consistently unhappy about the defects in the software that had been delivered to them. I, therefore, decided to dedicate time and effort to scientifically remove software defects," he says.
"Technically, software testing is much more challenging compared to its development and programming. It is an exciting field and is technically more stimulating. Today, the complexity of software demands that the aspirants are familiar with the tools and technology used in testing. Though initially it may not be a highly paid job, it offers faster growth options to software professionals," he says.
Chennavajhula, who is an ME from BITS Pilani, is armed with an MBA from Penn State University, US, and is also a certified software tester from QAI Global Institute. What matters to the software professional is not just writing the code but also the quality of the code. "The question I would often ask myself was how come intelligent people produce defective software. My quest from that day onwards was to work towards managing the quality of the software produced. I realised that quality can be engineered into the product by systematically eliminating defects at various stages of developing a software. Finally, there was a scientific way of finding defects in the software - and that is a science and not an art!"
Testing as a job requires one to be proficient with technical knowledge and experience of the development life cycle, functional domain, and technology and tools used for testing. In addition, it requires individuals to demonstrate a high capability for logical analysis, deduction, reasoning, communication, and presentation skills. Testing is considered as a necessary business-critical skill at par with project management by many organisations today. Individuals aspiring to be testers should demonstrate a high level of observation, perseverance, and technical aptitude to excel in the field.
A tester needs to have functional domain knowledge, programming knowledge and strong communication skills. "In testing, one gets to present the bad news first - the defects in what you have done. It is important, therefore, to articulate a problem in an objective manner," he says. Testers also need to have strong observation skills. There are things that they can't learn on the job such as stock exchange functioning, mechanical aspects of how a ship or an aircraft may work etc. Companies when they hire IT testers, look for people who are quick on the uptake.
As a tester, the challenges that one may face is lack of appreciation and acceptance of engineering quality, resistance to involvement of testers in the early stages of development, lack of talent, lack of belief that testing is scientific, systematic, creative and technically more challenging and lack of management support for quality delivery.
As software becomes more complex, the demand for quality shall increase and testing will be critical for businesses in India as well as overseas.
"My advice to students is jump in now, learn, and grow," adds Chennavajhula.
Author: Vandana Ramnani (HT Horizons)
Date: 19th October, 2010
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