Whatis'SoftwareQualityAssurance'?SoftwareQAinvolvestheentiresoftwaredevelopmentPROCESS-monitoringandimprovingtheprocess,makingsurethatanyagreed-uponstandardsandproceduresarefollowed,andensuringthatproblemsarefoundanddealtwith.Itisorientedto'prevention'.(SeetheHYPERLINK"http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatbks1.html"Bookstoresection's'SoftwareQA'categoryforalistofusefulbooksonSoftwareQualityAssurance.)HYPERLINK"http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatfaq1.html"\l"TOP#TOP"Returntotopofthispage'sFAQlistWhatis'SoftwareTesting'?Testinginvolvesoperationofasystemorapplicationundercontrolledconditionsandevaluatingtheresults(eg,'iftheuserisininterfaceAoftheapplicationwhileusinghardwareB,anddoesC,thenDshouldhappen').Thecontrolledconditionsshouldincludebothnormalandabnormalconditions.Testingshouldintentionallyattempttomakethingsgowrongtodetermineifthingshappenwhentheyshouldn'torthingsdon'thappenwhentheyshould.Itisorientedto'detection'.(SeetheHYPERLINK"http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatbks1.html"Bookstoresection's'SoftwareTesting'categoryforalistofusefulbooksonSoftwareTesting.)OrganizationsvaryconsiderablyinhowtheyassignresponsibilityforQAandtesting.Sometimesthey'rethecombinedresponsibilityofonegrouporindividual.Alsocommonareprojectteamsthatincludeamixoftestersanddeveloperswhoworkcloselytogether,withoverallQAprocessesmonitoredbyprojectmanagers.Itwilldependonwhatbestfitsanorganization'ssizeandbusinessstructure.HYPERLINK"http://www.softwareqatest.com/qatfaq1.html"\l"TOP#TOP"Returntotopofthispage'sFAQlistWhataresomerecentmajorcomputersystemfailurescausedbysoftwarebugs?ASeptember2006newsreportindicatedproblemswithsoftwareutilizedinastategovernment'sprimaryelection,resultinginperiodicunexpectedrebootingofvotercheckinmachines,whichwereseparatefromtheelectronicvotingmachines,andresultedinconfusionanddelaysatvotingsites.Theproblemwasreportedlyduetoinsufficienttesting.InAugustof2006aU.S.governmentstudentloanserviceerroneouslymadepublicthepersonaldataofasmanyas21,000borrowersonit'