The Testing Diaries: Confessions of an Application Tester

Software testing is one of the most critical aspects of the software development life cycle, but it's often poorly understood. Because they're so often the bearers of bad news (highlighting bugs, glitches and areas where user experience is poor), testers are often perceived as bottlenecks, but they are just doing their job to ensure that applications are bug-free and functioning correctly. Testers may feel overwhelmed and frustrated when they are left out of early design and development conversations, have their role denigrated or have to deal with poorly written code and lack of resources. Despite all the frustrations that testers have to deal with, most are happy with their jobs and enjoy their application testing career. Our panel of testers open up about their experiences and talk about: - The relationship between developers and testers— are these roles friends or foes? - What testers like the most about their job - The most frustrating aspects of software testing - How software testers provide value to the business - Why testers should have a seat at the table early on in the design and development process