Testers: True Detectives

Testing is detective work and testers are classic detectives. Imagine the following situation. You’ve got a beautiful-looking app in front of you, it seems really comfortable and offers untold possibilities. But lurking behind this façade of perfection may be (and often are) unexpected links, omissions, and oversights that can turn the app into your worst nightmare. When this doesn’t happen, you’ve got to thank the systematic checking that takes place at every point in the creation of the application. “These days apps are developed piece by piece, in phases. Each piece is checked on a daily basis so that the programmer can correct their code immediately,” explains Michael Čakrt, a QA competence leader at Cleverlance. Apps and software are tested not only through the course of development, but understandably also after they are completed. In addition to the practical impact it has on the quality of development, testing serves as a gateway to the world of technology. The skills needed for testing are analytical thinking, an eye for detail, and attentiveness. “For six years now we’ve organized a testing academy where we teach people how to work with testing tools and look at code through testers’ eyes, to read the code,” Čakrt explains. Some 150 testing experts work in the Cleverlance team, many of whom attended the academy. “One advantage is that the testers are members of numerous project development teams at various clients. So they learn a lot about the current IT world, they see how IT is developing and what’s important,“ Čakrt adds.

It’s an entire world of its own. It’s got its rules, trends, and principles, but most of all – without it, technical development would come to a standstill.

Seem a little far-fetched? Not at all.

Testing is the glue that makes IT work.

TECHNOLOGY

The Ten Commandments of a Perfect Tester

1. Be curious 2. Focus 3. Cope with stress 4. Organize your time well 5. Be careful 6. Think while you work 7. Communicate with the team 8. Be interested in your field 9. Learn new things 10. Be proud of your work