In this episode, Richard and Vernon delve into the complexities of Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Engineering (QE), and testing in software development. They explore the evolution of these concepts, their interrelations, and the importance of metrics in assessing quality. The conversation highlights the need for a holistic approach to quality, emphasizing that both prevention and detection of bugs are essential. The hosts also discuss the challenges of defining these terms and the future of quality in the industry.
Links to stuff we mentioned during the pod:
00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Welcome
02:40 - Today's topic: What the hell is QA? QE? Testing? And is it all changing?
03:00 - Why is this bugging Rich?
05:11 - Fruit fly tangent 🍌🍊🍎🪰🐝🦋
06:27 - Rich's take on QA, QE, and Testing
08:31 - Vern's take on QA, QE, and Testing
11:15 - Is shift-left testing the same as QE?
13:05 - When the team tests early... is that QE then?!
16:18 - What's the big deal if we can’t define QE clearly?
19:27 - Why the Efficiency Era makes this even harder
22:55 - Trying to draw the Testing, QA, QE, Venn diagram
27:24 - Getting the QA, QE, Testing blend just right. What's the right mix?
29:52 - The kinds of work we take on as our careers grow
34:08 - What Testers get rewarded for
45:34 - How Ali Abdaal helped Vern think differently about quality
48:18 - Rich talks measurement