Software Testing: Continuous Learning

We live in interesting times. Continuous learning has become an essential quality, and software testing professionals are no exceptions. In this blog, let’s talk about the importance of continuous learning, and how software testing professionals can keep themselves up to speed on the technology aspects, to be successful.

My personal approach to Software Quality is straight-forward – which is addressing the various important pillars like performance and security. While I respect and admire the tremendous work that has been done in evolving software testing as a profession, which includes the methodologies, tools, and frameworks, it has been my longstanding belief that software testing by itself does not have much value unless the individual doing the work is aligned to the domain/industry/business for which the software product is being built. This opinion is not because of the fact that I personally have worked mostly in the software product environments and very less in the software services environments. It is because of the reasoning that software testing attempts to prove an hypothesis that a software works as intended. For this, the professional involved should master the domain/industry/business basics, and should not lose sight of the big picture thinking, while paying attention to the nitty-gritty details.

To take my specific example, I have been continuously learning about security and performance. Within each topic, there is so much things to learn, and the topic is constantly evolving. I update myself with articles, blogs, books, and by attending weekly meetings on the various aspects. I also take part in the industry standards initiatives, which helps me stay ahead and lead the technology efforts, while focusing on the quality and software testing perspectives. Areas like performance, security, and reliability are heavily loaded, and it could be exhausting and tiring to learn each and every aspect.

A quick tip on quick learning is to go with the first principles. First principles rely on the method of asking “What is ….?” I remember my college days when my electrical engineering lecturer used to interact with the students, and most of his questions to make people think and come up with right answers start with “What is ….?” and then when the answers come, he didn’t stop there; he would relentlessly pursue with another “What is ….?” about a related topic or a concept, and then make the students connect the dots!

In today’s scenario, there’s no dearth of topics to learn that’s important to software quality. With the advent of generative AI, there’s a need to reassess every other pillar on the impact that it makes on those pillars. For example, AI security is a hot and trending topic right now.

To conclude, we need to stay informed, educated, and be knowledgeable on the industry/domain/business, as well as the latest technology trends, in order to be contributing in meaningful ways. Agree that there are still areas that need be improved in the Software Testing area which may not be the latest and greatest, but it makes sense to be updated, thrive with the latest, and enjoy the work.

If your organisation is looking for shifting to the latest and greatest technologies, and need help with strategies for software testing and quality initiatives related to them, please feel free to get in touch with me. Glad to help!