What skills needed to be a good software test automator?

If you have studied the history of the test automation process you might have observed that there have been so many failures which have now become the lessons for the entire testing community. Because of the lessons learnt it was decided, that the scripts that will have to be developed must be reusable. 

In order make most of any testing methodology, it is required that it must be made manageable as well as reusable. 

There are certain things that a tester should keep in mind to be a good tester:

1. Test automation is not a sideline but rather a full time effort.
2. Test frame work and test design should be treated as separate individual entities an not as the same one.
3. The test frame work should be independent of the software system or application that is under testing.
4. It should be easy to expand, perpetuate and maintain the test frame work.
5. The test design as well as the test strategy should be independent of the frame work.
6. The test strategy should be so effective that is should be capable of removing the complexities related to the test frame work from the testers.

Skills needed to be a good software test automator

In this article we have focussed up on the skills that are needed to be a good software test automator. Some other skills are:

1. Good logic for programming code of the scripts.
2. The automator must have good analytical skills.
3. The automator must have adequate knowledge about the testing tools that are to be used in the automation process.
4. He/ she should have the habit if thinking out of the box.
5. Critical in nature
6. A good automator can think well from the user’s point of view.
7. A good automator keeps an eye on the details of the test automation process.
8. The knowledge about domain is a must.
9. Good judgement skills.
10. Good code writing skills.

Qualities of a good Test Automator

- A good test automator is the one who implements a test strategy that supports development of the intuitive tests and can be executed both via automated tests and manually.

- The test strategy that a good test automator uses will allow the tests to highlight the steps to be performed.

- A good test automator develops a frame work to harness the benefits form the implementation of the key word drive testing scripts and tradition testing scripts. 

- A good automator implements a test automation frame work in such a way that it is completely independent of the software application that is under question. 

- A good automator fully documents and publishes the test automation frame work.

- One thing that should always be kept in mind is that the testers are only testers and not programmers. 

- Good testers and automators are those who have both the testing as well as programming skills. 

- Most of the testers are domain experts only having zero or very little technical skills that are an immediate requirement for the software testing. 

- Many testers also have a habit of splitting the time between testing and development phases and so they do not require to learn a complex scripting language. 

What are different aspects of error seeding?

There are so many issues associated with the so called bugs and errors! A good tester needs to be well aware about all the terms and issues associated with the errors and bugs.

Errors are the worst nightmare a tester and developer can get since an error might have a great potential to disrupt the functional of the whole of the software system or application and it may also introduce new error in a chain in to the program making it even more cumbersome to be tracked.

This article is focussed up on one of the terms associated with the errors and bugs namely “error seeding”.

You must be quite familiar with what is actual seeding?
Seeding is the process of sowing seeds that when grow up will become plants. Similarly from the term “error seeding” itself we can make out that it is the process of adding or sowing the faults in the software program intentionally so that the rate of detection and the removal of the error can be evaluated.

About Error Seeding

- One thing should be kept in mind which is that the errors to be injected in to the program must be known otherwise it will again become a problem for the tester.

- In many of the cases the error seeding methodology is employed to calculate the number of the errors that are still remaining in the program code.

- The error is intentionally injected in to the source code of the software system or application for the purpose of determination of the rate of discovery of the error which is very crucial for the software testing process.

- Knowing the rate of error detection can help a tester know what’s wrong with the testing methodologies he/ she is using and how they can be improved up on.

Uses of Error Seeding Method

Apart from just being used for the determination of the detection rate, this methodology is helpful in the below mentioned tasks also:

1. It is used to evaluate the skills of the tester of error finding.
2. It is used for the evaluation the ability of the application to survive the errors persisting in it
3. It is used to determine the ease with which the discovered bugs can be fixed up without blocking the work flow of the software system or application.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Error seeding

- Error seeding involves the seeding in of the errors and bugs.

- After the seeding of the errors, several test cases are executed and the ratio between the artificial errors and the actual errors is calculated based on the total number of errors that are detected.

- Normal test cases that are designed for any other error detection methodology can be used for error seeding.

- However the error seeding methodology is quite inefficient as compared to other methodologies like mutation testing. But, it takes lesser time to be completed and is very economical to be carried out.

- However inefficient it may be, it is always a better option of the programs with a lengthier source code. The defects that are injected in to the code have non trivial severity.

- The percentage of the seeded defects injected during the testing can bethought of as a reasonable predictor of the effectiveness of the methodology.

Explain principle-based versus rule-based process?

In the field of software development, two types of processes have been identified namely:
1. Principle based process and
2. The rule based process

The two above mentioned processes have been discussed in comparison with each so that grasping the concepts of the two processes becomes easy for you!

Principle based Process

- Principle based processes are a must if you want to sustain the current rigorous regulatory environment with better and more effective outcomes.

- This can be thought of as a continuous process that will call for the significant change in the behavior of the organizations.

- The principle based processes are based up on some principles rather than a bunch of rules that prescribe how the outcomes have to be achieved.

- To help the organizations plan their business processes, sign posted information is provided.

- Investment is made in the capabilities of the individual workers so as to increase their rate of experience, judgement, communication and expertise skills.

- Emphasis is also laid on the enhanced knowledge management processes so that the people have easy access to the relevant information.

- Performances are measured against the regulated outcomes that have been clearly articulated.

- Such principle based processes provide flexibility in delivering the outcomes that are required by the customers and the clients.

- Many of the software projects witness a close fit between among their regulatory requirements and the business objectives.

- This also leads to an increase in the responsibility for key regulatory decisions to a much higher level thus raising the difficulty of challenges for the organization, its compliance, internal audit functions and the risk management.

- These aspects are the most affected since most of the support to the senior management comes from these.

- Organizations that properly follow all the principles of a principle based regulatory process are the ones who are benefitted most from the “regulatory dividend”.

- Principle based processes or regulations deem to benefit more from the clients and customers via the fostering of a more competitive and innovative software industry.

- Effective protection is also offered by the principle based process as a result of the meeting the requirements and principles of the software project by the senior managers.

- To keep the principle based processes in existence and continuous use it is necessary for the organizations to work actively with the stake holders and other regulators both internationally and domestically.

- Some of principles are:

1. Efficient and economic project operations.
2. Placing adequate emphasis on the senior management in covering up the regulatory responsibilities.
3. Being proportionate.
4. Keeping regards for the other innovations in the markets.
5. Having proper regard for the impact that the principle based processes have on the competition.

Rule Based Process

Now coming to the rule based processes. These processes are characterized by an exhaustive, localized and repetitive transformations of a shared data object which can be any one of the following:

1. Term
2. Graph
3. Constraint store
4. Proof and so on.

Now you must be thinking what are the rules for?

- They are for describing the transformations which are required to segregate the object description from the replacement calculation.

- There are rules called the conditional rules that further restrict the applicability of the transformations.

- A control is kept on these transformations through the explicit and implicit strategies.

- The rules can be described as a pattern of application.

- A rule can be governed by further conditions that may restrict their applicability.

What are different kinds of soft skills to be a successful tester / test manager?

Soft skill can be defined as a sociological term that plays a very important role in the success and personality development of an individual and can be related to his/ her following aspects:

1. Emotional intelligence quotient
2. Personality traits
3. Communication
4. Languages
5. Social graces
6. Friendliness
7. Attitude (whether pessimistic or optimistic) and
8. Personal habits and so on.

Why Soft Skills important?

- Soft skills in a way complement the IQ i.e., intelligence quotient of a person.

- IQ is included in the hard skills of a person.

- All these skills form an essential part of the occupational requirements for a job.

- A tester or test manager also needs to incorporate all these attributes in himself/ herself in order to be successful and enhance his interactions with the fellow team members, career prospects and also the job performance.

- The soft skills of a tester/ test manager can be related to his/ her ability of interacting effectively with the clients, customers and co workers.

- The soft skills of each and every individual combined together contribute to the success of the organization which can’t be ignored.

- This is the reason why the soft skills are being focussed up on as equally as the hard skills.

Soft skills are considered to be as the behavioural competencies and are more commonly known as the interpersonal skills and include:
1. Conflict resolution
2. Conflict negotiation
3. Communication skills
4. Creative problem solving
5. Selling skills
6. Strategic thing
7. Influencing skills
8. Team building etc.

Another Soft Skill

- Ability to participate actively in the group discussions is also an essential soft skill that companies seek in the testers and test managers.
- It is often the first criteria for the selection.
- Good communication and group discussion skills are the must software skills for the testers.
- The best thing about the soft skills is that they are honed for the professional needs but they eventually affect ones personal life in all the aspects.

So instead of just honing the technical skills, the testers require to focus up on building up their soft skills. But here we do not mean to say that the hard skills should be undermined. A tester cannot survive his job if he is not good at his technical skills. You need to strike a balance between both the hard and soft skills to make yourself a successful tester.

Some Important Soft Skills
Here are some important soft skills:

1. Discipline and perseverance
These two soft skills are psychological tools to persevere and make your efforts more productive. It increases the quality of your work and helps you focus well.

2. Reading skills
Reading skill may sound odd here but its importance will be realised as you deal on with the large amount of specifications and information every day. Testers have to deal with large chunks of information and a hell lot of documentations every day and so honing this soft skill becomes apparently necessary.

3. Negative thinking
Now you must be wondering what this is for. Well, negative thinking though works badly for the real aspects of life but it really helps a lot in testing while using tactics like negative testing, exploratory testing, fault injection techniques etc, since in such testing techniques, the tester to consider all the things by which the program can be affected.

4. Communication and interpersonal skills

5. Time management skills
These are needed since you need to make most of your time.

6. Effort prioritization
This is needed to assign importance to the tasks so that you an finish up all of them efficiently without messing up.

7. Attitude

What are different software development problems and what are its solutions?

Today‘s world is growing up in the age of software. The whole world revolves around the computers and the computing is all possible because of effective softwares. The quality of the software systems and applications that we use depends largely up on the quality and efficiency of the software development process.

For producing the quality and efficient softwares, a sound software development process is required. But, today as the technology is advancing, so are the problems associated with it.

In this article we are going to throw some light on the problems that come in the way of software development and also we shall seek some solutions for them.

DIFFERENT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS

- There is a lack of skill in the IT sector and the available expertise is focused more up on the core competencies which include outsource functions that are distasteful and complex though still being important.

- The local software development relates to the global software development.

- A good cooperation is needed among the intra- organizational companies.

- There is a great need of effective outsourcing which includes the availability of global data centres, IT infrastructure and embedded softwares, software applications and maintenance applications.

- Apart from all these there is a big requirement for better application service providers or ASPs.

There are several other problems associated with the software development:

1. Communication Problems
- In today’s world the development of software is not concentrated over a region or area, engineers and experts from all over the world contribute in this.
- Formal communication is needed during the routine, inspections and for formal specifications whereas informal communication is required to describe the informally captured requirements.
- Problems like following occur:
(a) Distinct backgrounds
(b) Time zone difference
(c) Lack of information communication
(d) Distinct backgrounds
(e) Distance

2. Strategic Problems
A lot of problems are faced while designing a strategy for the software development like:
(a) When to start development?
(b) Which task is to be allotted to whom?
(c) How to manage risk at both organizational level and project level.

3. Complexity in Coordination
The members of the software development team often find it difficult to cooperate with each other.

4. Issues related to Diverse Cultures
- Team members are from different cultural backgrounds and this has an affect on their performance, individualism, and attitude towards the work.

- Emotions and attitude towards race, religion and class etc add to these problems.

- The team members should be smart enough to understand each other’s culture and learn to compromise and respect the cultures of each other.

- Some of the measures to overcome cultural issues include reducing the intense collaboration among the team members, reducing the cultural distance by cultural liaison and personnel exchange etc.

5. Physical or Geographical Dispersion
Geographical dispersion of the team members as well as resources which results in an uneven distribution of the vendor support, access to expertise and cause a hindrance in the use of software development practices which need a face to face interaction.

6. Technical Problems
Sharing of the artifact as well as information about the development plan and software becomes quite a difficult job.

7. Management of Knowledge
This is a consequence of lack of communication or poor communication among the team members, lack of proper documentation, repositories and so on.

8. Availability of Open Source Software
- Open source softwares that facilitate the exchange of information and artifact among the developers and provide means for the modification of the code should be made available to all involved in the development process.

- Such open source softwares help in unifying the distributed development process.

What are Application Testing Methodologies?

First of all, lets be clear with what is application testing actually.
- It is simply the testing of application software. But, it is not so easy to carry out as it sounds like.
- To develop good application software, great efforts and skills are required both of development and testing.
- Testing is needed to check the quality status of application software.
- This is indeed very important for quality assurance and to see that if the application software is meeting the expectations of the consumers or not.

WHY IS TESTING METHODOLOGY IMPORTANT?
- It is obvious that all the aspects of application software cannot be discovered by following just one testing methodology.
- One has to employ many testing methodologies in order to discover most of the hidden bugs and errors.
- Many methodologies have been developed for testing application software.
- Discovery of flaws is the primary aim of any software testing methodology.
- Criticism is yet another aim.

APPLICATION TESTING METHODOLOGIES

1.BOX TESTING TECHNIQUES
- White Box Testing
It includes techniques that are used to test the program or algorithmic structures and working of that particular software application in opposition to its functionalitY or the results of its black box tests.
a) API testing
b) Fault injection
c) Code coverage: Code coverage can be defined as a measure to measure the extent to which the source code of a software system has been tested.
d) Mutation testing
e) Static testing

- Black Box Testing
a) Equivalence partitioning
b) Boundary value analysis
c) Pair wise testing
d) Fuzz testing
e) Exploratory testing
f) Model based testing
g) Specification based testing

- Grey Box Testing
As the grey colour is made from the combination black and white colours, so does grey box testing is made from a combination of both white box testing as well as black box testing.
- Visual Testing
As the name suggests, non destructive testing techniques do not involve vigorous checking of the software structure.
- Unit Testing
- Integration Testing
The units or modules are combined and tested.
- System Testing
- System Integration Testing

- Regression Testing
It basically discovers and unhide the hidden and new errors and flaws.

- Acceptance Testing
There should be some kind of testing that looks in to the contract and verifies whether or not all the requirements have been met. Acceptance testing serves the purpose right. Acceptance is a composition of 3 kinds of tests namely Physical tests, Chemical tests and Performance tests.

- Alpha Testing
The purpose of checking the application software before the release is served by alpha testing on the basis of:
a) Service level agreement or SLA as it is abbreviated.
b)Requirements
c)Specifications
d)Defect rate efficiency (known as DRE in short form).

- Beta Testing
Beta testing is carried out after the successful completion of the alpha testing.
- Performance Testing

- Usability Testing
Usability testing can be defined as a technique which is used in interaction design. This designing is centred around the user and accounts for the evaluation of the software system, application or product by testing it out on the software product users.

- Security Testing
Security testing as its name suggests can be defined as a process to determine that whether or not a software or information system or application is capable of protecting data and keeping it secure.

- Internationalization
Internationalization can be defined as a process of coding and designing a product. This coding is done in such a way that it can perform well almost on any platform after modification for use in different regional standards and languages.
- Localization

What are different manual testing challenges?

Everything in this world has got some positive sides and some negative sides, some advantages and some disadvantages, and of course challenges! This holds utterly true with the technology too. Manual testing being so unsophisticated faces challenges too.

WHAT IS MEANT BY MANUAL TESTING?

- Manual testing involves a tester who is supposed to carry out the testing processes manually for finding out the errors and bugs.
- The tester here tests a software system or application with a view of an end user.
- All the features and functionalities of the software system or application are exploited to the most possible extent.
- As the tester cannot mentally track the whole testing process, he follows a written test plan.
- This also ensures that no important test case is missed.
- Even today after the invention of many modern testing technologies, most of the software engineering projects rely on manual testing since it involves a rigorous testing procedure.
- Manual testing works a long way in digging out more defects.
- In a typical manual testing a high level testing plan is followed.
- All the resources like software licenses and skilled people and computers are identified.
- The test cases are written in detail along with the procedure to be followed and the expected outcome.
- Different test cases are assigned to different testers who carry out the testing manually.
- A detailed test report is prepared.
- Manual testing demands skills because without skill the tester might falter.

CHALLENGES FACED IN MANUAL TESTING

1. Manual testing cannot be used to test out the whole application. It can only be used for some parts. The test cases are so large in numbers that it becomes impossible to execute all of them manually. If you were to execute all of those test cases, testing will take too much of time. You won’t be able to complete the testing within the stipulated period of time.

2. Always pay attention to the company defined processes. You should be well informed with the purpose these processes serve. Often following the company defined processes leas to incomplete software testing. The company processes often don’t keep up with the tester’s methodologies or test plan.

3. Manual testing requires good skills. The main skills required are of trouble shooting, analyzing and communication.

4. As the tester gets more hold of the software system or application testing, more and more test cases and errors and bugs come in to the scene and it become pretty much difficult to keep on testing the software system or application further. This is where the regression testing comes in to the play.

5. You should be careful while choosing the team members. They all should be skilled. Unskilled testers can further aggravate the problem rather than simplifying it. This also leads to inappropriate testing.

6. Manual testing should be governed by the time constraint. There is no time for executing each and every test case. The tester usually focuses on the completion of the task rather than focusing on the quality of the testing. There are a whole lot of the tasks to be performed like executing, documentation, automation and reviewing the test scenario.

7. The problem of sorting the test cases according to the priority often comes in way while following the manual testing. Defining a criterion for the sorting of the test cases well in accordance to the priority.

8. In manual testing the requirements of the software system or application are often misunderstood.

9. The reuse of test scripts is a difficult task in manual testing.

These challenges require analyzing skills rather than any other kind of skills.

What are the qualities of a good tester?

The quality of the software testing depends up on the skills of the tester since the whole software testing process revolves on the instructions of the tester. Even a single wrong decision can cause the whole testing process go wrong.

A tester makes a decision based on his testing skills and capabilities. So a tester has to be very careful while taking any decisions regarding the software testing process.

ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD TESTER

1. GOOD TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE
- It is not necessary that a good tester might be an experienced one.
- A fresher having good technical and practical knowledge about the software testing methodologies and strategies can also perform effective software testing. - Though one learns from experience, it is often seen that there are many testers who even after having much experience are not able to carry out the software testing process efficiently in a well mannered way.
- They often keep bumping into the problems.

2. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TESTING PROCESS
- A good tester keeps the overview of the whole testing process in mind while drafting out the test plan.
- He/ she include all the aspects to be tested in the test plan.

3. FAULT FINDING
- He insists on finding the faults earlier in the software system or application since discovering the bugs and errors in the earlier phases of the development helps a great deal.
- It takes less effort to fix a bug or an error in the initial stage of the development when compared to the efforts required in the later stages of development.

4. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
- Testers know computer programming well.
- They are capable of maintaining good credibility with the fellow programmers.
- They have senior computer programmers working over them.

5. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT APPLICATION SOFTWARE
- They know the application software under testing very well.
- He/ she should be able to exploit the application software like an end user.
- Thinking like a user open ups new ways in which the application can be used.

6. SMARTNESS
- Good testers are really smart people and know how to exploit the application.
- Their intelligence is at par with the programmers.

7. NOTICING THINGS
- Good testers tend to notice those minute and little things that do not come to the notice of the other people.
- They keep a sharp eye on the behavior of the program.
- Even a little unusual happening can be an indication of a bug or error.

8. HANDLING CHAOS
- Obviously when a team comprising of people at different designations there will be a lot of chaos.
- Handling such chaos depends on the individual character.
- A good tester is expected to have good tolerance capacity or we can say he/ she should have patience.

9. HANDLING CRITICISM
- Testers have to suffer a lot of criticism from the programmers.
- A tester having good sense of humor can easily get through such a trap.

10. TENACITY
- Another social skill called tenacity is found in good testers.
- Tenacity is the ability of an individual to compromise with the opinions of the others.
- A good tester knows how to socially smart and is a good diplomat.

11. KEEPING TRACK
- A good tester keeps a track of his testing.
- He/ she keeps his observations organized.

12. SKEPTICAL NATURE
- A good tester is a bit skeptical.
- He/ she do not takes anything for granted and questions every thing suspicious for bugs and errors.

13. TOUGH
- A good tester is tough since he/ she has to suffer a lot of criticism and questions of the programmers.

14. SEARCHING NEW WAYS
- They are always searching for new ways of testing an application.
- They are technology hungry. Testing is quite a laborious task.

15. HONESTY
- Finally a good tester is honest with his duty and doesn’t follow any corruption.

What are different concepts of Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA)?

Certified software quality analyst or CSQA as it is known in short form, is the certification that checks the software quality analysing capabilities and skills of an individual who applies for it.

Certified software quality analyst certification is gaining fast popularity in the field of software testing these days. Number of CSQA aspirants is growing day by day. More and more skilled individuals are now seeking to get this certification.

The certified software quality analysts use the principles of quality analysing in assessing the quality of the software. CSQA plays a great role in building up the reputation of an organization since it helps in improving the quality of the software products that it manufactures.

CSQA certification provides three main benefits.They have been mentioned below:

- It gives an acknowledgement about the skills and competency of the certified individual or professional.
- It proves to be a great factor in helping the deserving individual in getting job, promotion and good hike in salary.
- He/ she can continue his/ her education after fulfilling the re-certification requirements.

The duration of exam is 4 hours but it if you get qualified you will have great benefits. There are certain things that you need to fulfil before appearing for the examination.

These include:

- The candidate needs to fulfil all the prerequisites as laid down by the CSQA certification norms.
- The applicant needs to abide by the guidelines stated by the code of ethics and stick to them while discharging their duties.
- The applicant needs to submit a document for character reference along with the exam form.

An individual or professional can hold CSQA certification only for 3 years at a time and after that he/ she need to get re-certification for the same. This can be done by the following procedure:

- The applicant needs to submit a recertification journal which gives an account on the qualified educational activities by the professionals.
- The applicant may appear for a recertification exam.

What does this certification do?
- This certification tests the principles and practices that an individual or a professional follows regarding the management of good quality.

- CBOK only helps with understanding of concepts but does not provide any practical knowledge and experience.

- CSQA aims to test the ability of an individual to face the real world challenges.

- Most of the aspirants don’t know how to approach CSQA exam. It is just like a regular exam but with a more need of practical knowledge and awareness.

Try to understand the concepts listed in CBOK properly. You can also prepare questions for testing your preparation. While studying a concept, you need to relate those concepts to the real world challenge as to how you will use them in solving real world problems.

The candidate needs to meet any one of the following condition:

- A bachelor’s degree from a reputed and accredited institution along with an experience of 2 years.
- An associate degree along an experience of 4 years.
- If the applicant is not having any degree, he/ she must have an experience of 6 years minimum.

The aspirants must learn to adhere to the code of ethics. It is very important not abide by the code of ethics as it defines the behaviour that is expected from a professional. Depending up on your compliance, you may require submitting your education and employment documents. If you fail to submit, then you may be disqualified. To abide by the code of ethics is extremely important as one can even be subjected to decertification if his/her conduct is not good.

What are different characteristics of Certified Association in Software Quality (CASQ)?

CASQ is the abbreviated form of Certified Association in Software Quality. Day by day the competition is increasing in the market. Therefore it becomes necessary to incorporate ability in the management by virtue of which it can easily distinguish the skilled individuals and professionals. CASQ certification lays down a basic foundation for understanding of principles of quality assurance as well as the practices.

- Whenever software attains the certification of CASQ it attains a level of professionalism with regard to the principles and practices of software quality assurance in the field of information technology.

- The software becomes a member of an acclaimed group of professionalism and receives the recognition for its competency by professional and business associates.

- It is guaranteed with fast career advancement.

OBJECTIVE OF CASQ
This certified association of software quality is aimed at establishing the standards of the qualification. Its objective is to continue the advancement in the professional competence.

CASQ BENEFITS

- It defines the tasks and skills associated with the quality of the software in an appropriate order to determine the level of skill mastery.

-It brings out the will of an individual to make a professional improvement.

- It acknowledges the attainment of an standard of professional competency which is duly acceptable.

- It aids the other organizations in the process of selection and promotion of the individuals who qualify successfully.

- It motivates the skilled individuals and professionals to maintain their professional competency and also take up their software quality responsibilities effectively.

- It assists the skilled individuals and professionals in enhancing and improving the software quality assurance programs that are carried out by their organizations.

WHAT CERTIFIED CANDIDATES SHOULD DO?
- To accept the responsibility is a distinguishing mark of professional competency.

- The certified individuals must maintain their standards with regard to their conduct.

- This helps them in discharging their responsibilities effectively.

- If an individual wants to apply for certified association of software quality certification than he/ she has to strictly abide by the policy of the code of ethics that guide the principles and practices of software quality assurance.

- This software certification program comprises of procedures for monitoring the individuals’ behaviour and whether they are sticking to the certification policies and ethics or not.

- If a certified individual or a professional later fails to adhere to these policies, than he is subjected to de-certification.

There are some common principles that one needs to adhere to and these have been mentioned below:

1. Principles
2. Quality concepts
3. Quality assessments
4. Quality models
5. Quality baselines
6. Quality practices
7. Quality planning
8. Quality assurance
9. Define
10.Build
11.Implement
12.Quality work
13.Quality metrics and measurements
14.Security
15.Internal control
16.COTS and contracting quality
17.Out sourcing

There are certain prerequisites that each candidate needs to qualify such as complete a course for a stipulated period of time from an accredited institution, and some experience in information science. The candidate needs to strictly follow the guidelines and commit to the code of ethics.

EXAMINATION FOR CASQ
- The examination for obtaining this kind of certification is available in many countries.

- The QAI global institute is famous for its professionalism in software quality assurance.

- It was established in 1980 and basically was a software quality assurance industry.

- The first certified association of software quality certification was carried out in the year of 1985. The company launched its first formal process in the year of 1990.

- These days, the QAI global institute has attained the multinational reach. The company has certified over 36,000 professionals in the IT sector in over 44 countries of the world.

What makes a good Software Test Engineer, SQA Engineer, Test Manager?

A good software test engineer has the following qualities:
- a software engineer should focus on having a high quality product.
- a software engineer should understand customer's needs and requirements.
- a software engineer should maintain a tactful and diplomatic relationship with developers.
- a software engineer should maintain a good relationship with non technical people.
- a software engineer should be able to have a judgment skill when needed.

A good Software Quality Assurance engineer has the following qualities:
- a software quality assurance engineer should focus on having a high quality product.
- a software quality assurance engineer should understand customer's needs and requirements.
- a software quality assurance engineer should maintain a tactful and diplomatic relationship with developers.
- a software quality assurance engineer should maintain a good relationship with non technical people.
- a software quality assurance engineer should be able to have a judgment skill when needed.
- a software quality assurance engineer should have a proper understanding of software development life cycle.
- a software quality assurance engineer should understand business approach and goals.
- a software quality assurance engineer should have good communications skills.
- a software quality assurance engineer should be able to find problem areas.

A good QA/Test Manager has the following properties
- he should have a good understanding of software development life cycle.
- he should have a good and healthy relation with the technical and non technical people.
- he should be able to increase his team's productivity and efficiency.
- he should be able to create enthusiasm about work among team members.
- he should be able to make correct and quick decisions.
- he should be good at handling pressure.
- he should have diplomatic skills.