Quality Assurance Vs. Quality Control

Whether you have been in the IT world for quite some time or are just kick-starting your career, you have probably come across the terms quality assurance and quality control. Although most people assume that the two terms represent the same thing, the reality is that they are different. Well, read on to discover everything about quality assurance and quality control.

First Things First, What Exactly is Quality

In simple terms, quality in software refers to the application’s ability to meet and exceed users’ requirements and expectations in terms of design, portability, functionality, interface, reliability, security, durability, efficiency, stability, and price.

Understanding Quality Assurance

You already know what quality is, and now is the perfect time to discuss quality assurance. But before we get started, it is paramount to understand the term assurance. Simply put, assurance is a guarantee that the product will meet and exceed users’ expectations and requirements. It seeks to give users confidence that the product will work properly without any hitch.

With that in mind, quality assurance in testing is a procedure that ensures the quality of products launched by the company. For this to happen, quality assurance focuses on the Software Development Lifecycle to ensure the final product is efficient and meets its specifications and requirements. Examples of QA activities include:

• Defining process
• Quality audit
• Identifying and selecting tools
• Training best practices and processes
• Technology transfers

Tips for Conducting Quality Assurance Like A Pro

Testers must follow a laid-out cycle to save time and avoid mistakes during quality assurance. These steps are collectively called the Deming cycle or PDCA cycle. Discover how to conduct quality assurance like a pro below:

1. Plan
2. Execute
3. Validate
4. Act

Understanding Quality Control

Now, let’s define quality control or QC. Quality control is an engineering procedure that seeks to ensure the quality of the overall product. Unlike quality assurance, quality control only focuses on the outcome and products.

Quality control allows testers and developers to identify quality issues before launching the product. These issues must be fixed before the product is released. Besides the software quality, QC also seeks to ensure that testers and developers have the required skills to conduct quality control. Examples of quality control activities include:

1. Testing
2. Inspection
3. Walkthrough
4. Checkpoint review

Top Differences Between QA and QC

Even though QC and QA are used interchangeably, they are pretty different. For instance, QA focuses on the quality of specific processes, whereas QC focuses on the entire product. Discover critical differences between the two below:

•  Quality control checks the quality of the overall product, whereas quality assurance checks specific processes
• QC is reactive, while QA is proactive
• Quality control focuses on line function, and quality assurance focuses on staff function
• Testers identify bugs in quality control and prevent bugs in quality assurance.

Final Thoughts

There you go, the key differences between quality assurance and quality control in software testing. If you want to advance your IT skills, make sure to check our world-class online IT courses at Spin Career. 

Our team of experts will be happy to assist with any questions you may have. Check out what our students say about us and feel free to reach out. Our instructors at Spin Career are available to offer the support you need.