Quality Assurance / Testing – Definition, Use Cases and Best Practices at a Glance
Systematic process of checking software for defects, security issues and quality requirements through manual and automated tests.
What is Software Testing? QA Methods & Best Practices
Quality assurance (QA) and testing are essential parts of professional software development. Bugs in production cost many times more than early testing. Modern QA combines automated tests at several levels with targeted manual testing to keep software reliable, secure and usable.
This glossary entry for Quality Assurance / Testing gives you a clear Definition, practical Use Cases and Best Practices at a glance – with examples, pros and cons, and FAQs.
What is Quality Assurance / Testing?
- Quality Assurance / Testing – Systematic process of checking software for defects, security issues and quality requirements through manual and automated tests.
Software testing is the systematic process of checking software for defects (bugs), security issues, performance problems and requirement compliance. Levels include: unit tests (single functions in isolation), integration tests (interaction between components), end-to-end tests (E2E) that simulate real user scenarios, and performance tests under load.
QA goes beyond testing and includes code reviews, static analysis, coding standards and process audits. The test pyramid recommends many unit tests, fewer integration tests and few E2E tests.
How does Quality Assurance / Testing work?
In a modern CI/CD pipeline, tests run automatically on every commit. Unit tests run in seconds and give immediate feedback. Integration tests check database access, API calls and service interaction. E2E tests (e.g. Cypress, Playwright) simulate real user flows in the browser. Performance tests (e.g. k6, JMeter) test under load. Security tests (SAST, DAST) find vulnerabilities.
Code coverage measures how much code is covered by tests.
Practical Examples
E-commerce shop: Automated E2E tests run the full checkout including payment on every release to avoid revenue loss from bugs.
Banking software: Extensive regression tests ensure new features do not break existing booking processes. Security testing covers every change.
SaaS platform: API contract tests ensure backend changes do not break the frontend. Consumer-driven contracts secure microservice communication.
Mobile app: Automated UI tests on real devices (BrowserStack, Sauce Labs) check the app on different screen sizes and OS versions.
Legacy modernisation: Characterization tests document existing behaviour as a safety net before refactoring.
Typical Use Cases
Continuous integration: Automated tests as a quality gate in CI/CD
Regression testing: Ensuring new changes do not break existing behaviour
Security testing: Finding vulnerabilities via SAST, DAST and penetration tests
Performance testing: Validating that the system handles required load
Acceptance testing: Checking that the software meets business requirements
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- Early detection: Bugs are found before they cause damage in production
- Cost: Fixing a bug in development is 10–100x cheaper than in production
- Confidence: Automated tests give the team confidence to change and release
- Documentation: Tests document expected behaviour
- Speed: Automated tests enable frequent, safe releases
Disadvantages
- Initial effort: Building test infrastructure and writing tests takes time
- Maintenance: Tests must be updated when the software changes
- False security: High coverage does not guarantee all important scenarios are tested
- Flaky tests: Unstable tests that fail randomly undermine trust in the suite
Frequently Asked Questions about Quality Assurance / Testing
How much code coverage do you need?
Around 80% is a common target. 100% is neither realistic nor always useful, as getters/setters and trivial code need not be tested. What matters more is that critical business flows and error paths are covered.
Manual or automated testing?
Both. Automation suits repeatable tests (unit, integration, regression). Manual testing is needed for exploratory testing, usability and complex scenarios that are hard to automate. The test pyramid suggests many automated unit tests and fewer manual E2E tests.
What is TDD (Test-Driven Development)?
In TDD you write the test first, then the code that makes it pass. The cycle is Red (write a failing test), Green (write minimal code to pass), Refactor (improve code). TDD leads to better structure and high coverage from the start.
Direct next steps
If you want to apply or evaluate Quality Assurance / Testing in a real project, start with these transactional pages:
Quality Assurance / Testing in the Context of Modern IT Projects
This page provides a concise definition of Quality Assurance / Testing, practical use cases and best practices at a glance — everything you need to evaluate the technology for your next project. Quality Assurance / Testing falls within the domain of Methods and plays a significant role across a wide range of IT projects. When evaluating whether Quality Assurance / Testing is the right fit, organizations should look beyond the technical merits and consider factors such as existing team expertise, current infrastructure, long-term maintainability, and total cost of ownership.
Drawing on our experience from over 250 software projects, we have found that correctly positioning a technology or methodology within the broader project context often matters more than its isolated strengths.
At Groenewold IT Solutions, we have worked with Quality Assurance / Testing across multiple client engagements and understand both its advantages and the typical challenges that arise during adoption. If you are unsure whether Quality Assurance / Testing suits your particular requirements, we are happy to provide an honest, no-obligation assessment. We analyze your specific situation and recommend the approach that delivers the most value — even if that means suggesting an alternative solution.
For more terms in the area of Methods and related topics, see our IT Glossary. For concrete applications, costs, and processes we recommend our service pages and topic pages — there you will find many of the concepts explained here put into practice.
Related Terms
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