At Constellation1, we strive to keep our manual and automated testing methodologies fine-tuned and current. In this ongoing QA Corner series, we’ll be discussing these methodologies in depth. For our first edition, we’ll share what the difference is between quality assurance and quality control and how we define both at Constellation1. No matter how quickly a project is completed, stakeholders aren’t going to be happy if the quality doesn’t meet their expectations.
What is quality assurance?
Generally speaking, quality assurance is the process of making sure our software is free of any defects. At Constellation1, we analyze our documentation, engage stakeholders, define use cases, and create test plans with the goal of ensuring that the requested product or service is delivered without any issues and meets acceptance criteria. While we work on these manual tasks, the Automation team builds automation. This ensures that the manual test plans are converted into automation for feature and regression testing in the future. This is where quality control comes into play.
What is quality control?
Quality control is the actual testing we conduct to identify and correct any defects. It involves a quality gating system for our code from development to delivery. While we must conduct manual testing on all software, we repurpose the automation built during the assurance phase for regression testing. Regression testing means retesting existing features to ensure that all existing functionality still works after we make any changes, like new features and enhancements. Our delivery pipeline also has built-in automation that acts as an early warning system to let us know specific core features may not be working properly. This quality control ensures we aren’t just testing something new, we’re also testing how updates integrate with existing features.
Quality assurance vs. quality control
To break it down, quality assurance focuses on a macro level—ensuring that all products and features are inspected for bugs, whereas quality control focuses on the micro level—system inspection, regression testing, and core functionality. Our goal is perfect control and quality. Between these two terms, we have defined what quality means at Constellation1. We also recognize that there are many steps from the initial developer test to final deployment in the Production environment—which is what our customers see. This is why we build scalable tests and automated checks that allow us to deliver products faster and with more confidence, knowing our clients always get the quality they have come to expect.
In our next QA Corner blog post, we’ll review API testing, DB testing, and types of automation.
Now that you know a little more about the nuts and bolts, let us show you our full suite of solutions for brokerages, franchises, and MLSs. Visit our website or book your personal tour today!
