The only way to deliver a zero-defect product

Testing is an intrinsic job of the engineering team. "Quality engineering" needs to bring value across the product lifecycle, not just write tests after-the-fact.

I have to say it: I’m tired of seeing software testing handled as a specialized silo. I’m tired of seeing testing happen downstream, after the software has been written. I’m tired of seeing quality “injected” after a product has been built. It’s ineffective, and it devalues testing as an intrinsic component of software design.

Silos like this have their roots in industrial design. It dates back to when industrial process was re-crafted and applied to software. The problem is, it doesn’t work — and we knew that back when the idea was first introduced. Unfortunately, as an industry we forged ahead with a bad idea anyhow.

On an industrial assembly line, quality can be tested after the fact. In this setting we are inspecting for quality, not adding quality. For example, we’re checking to see if the weld joints on an airframe meet the tensile strength standards we expect. If the weld fails the product fails — and often the product is just thrown out. But in software, it results in a negative…