Software Testing Myths

Software testing is no doubt one of the most challenging jobs in IT industry. However, just like any other fields, there are many myths prevalent about software testing. Here we will try to bust some of the common software testing myths we come across as software testers.

Myth 1: Testing is easy, less challenging and no-brainer task.
People believes that testing is easy as not much coding/programming part is involved in it. Well, it’s not certainly easy. Testing can be difficult and challenging. Especially in complex systems where requirements are not properly captured.

Myth 2: Software testing is not required.
Many business believes this and they gets surprised when their clients come with truck load of complaints about software quality. Therefore, software testing should be considered as an integral part of software development life cycle.

Myth 3: Testers don’t like developers.
Testers and developers have a common goal: To provide a quality product to customer. Both professionals work side by side to achieve this. To help accomplish this task, software testing is required.

Myth 4: Complete testing is possible.
Many books on software testing start with a discussion of the impossibility of testing all the data or paths in non-trivial software. There might be some scenarios that are never executed by the test team or the client during the software development life cycle and may be executed once the project has been deployed.

Myth 5: It is due to testers that defects are missed.
This is subjective as many factors may be the reason for missed defects. These can be time, requirement management, regression issues etc. However, it is whole project team’s responsibility to churn out a quality software.

Myth 6: Automation testing can replace manual testing.
Coverage of all scenarios using automation is not possible. There must be a human element for making a system user friendly. We would say, automation is there to complement manual testing efforts.

Myth 7: Software testing is less paying job than development.
Many organizations are now looking for software test professional as they believe quality of software is important to them, their customer and their business. Therefore, gone are those days when testers are paid less than their development peers.

The above software testing myths list is not exhaustive as you can see. There are many such myths which are prevalent in industry. Let us know if you come across any such software testing myths.