Quality measures: the key to success in DevOps teams
As a software tester, you know that quality is crucial. After all, you're testing applications every day to make sure it meets the highest quality standards. But have you ever considered the importance of quality engineering? This is the process by which you build quality into every aspect of software development from the beginning. Now you might be wondering: what are these quality measures and why are they so important? Let's find out together.
Quality measures: integral part of DevOps
Within a DevOps environment, quality engineering is more than just a stand-alone activity; it is woven into allDevOps activities, from coding to deployment. With quality measures, you set clear criteria for your work.
You also create a traceable path for product owning and other stakeholders to identify causes of shortcomings in products or services. Imagine how much more efficient your processes can be if they are embedded in your daily activities.
The three groups of quality measures
Quality measures can be divided into three groups:
- Preventive measures
- Detective measures
- Corrective measures
Preventive measures are those measures you take to build in quality from the start. Think of things like documentation standards, methods, techniques and training. Have you ever participated in pair programming sessions? That's a useful preventive measure that helps reduce code errors.
In contrast, detective measures focus on demonstrating the level of quality. This covers things like code analysis and reviews, as well as test design and execution.
And then there are the corrective measures aimed at improving the quality level, such as restructuring code to improve maintainability.
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Quality measures in action
As a tester, you have several quality measures at your disposal that you can use to cover risks:
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA): This identifies the root cause of a defect so you can prevent it in the future.
- Test Driven Development (TDD): This involves writing tests before you start coding. This ensures a clear specification and error-free design.
- Specification and Example (SaE): A method where you use examples and specifications to develop understandable and testable software.
- Pair Programming and Pairing: Collaborative techniques where two people work together on the same code or solve a problem.
- Review: A systematic peer review of software to improve quality.
- Test design technique: These are methods for designing the structure of tests and deciding what to test.
- Feature Toggles: A technique that allows you to enable or disable specific features in your code without having to change the code.
- Monitoring: Tracking and collecting data on the performance of a system.
- Parallel Testing: Testing different systems or components simultaneously to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
Want to know more? Then follow our e-learning Tmap Quality for Cross-functional teams. This e-learning covers this in detail.
Use quality measures to make your Devops team better
Applying these quality measures will enable you to ensure software quality even better. How could applying these measures change your day-to-day operations? How much more efficient and productive could you be? At Testlearning, we understand how important these issues are and we are ready to help you deepen your knowledge of quality measures. Contact us to find out how we can support you.
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