What happens when you move the production of watches from skilled horologists to an assembly line operated by semi-skilled and unskilled workers? Quantity improves at the expense of quality. The dilemma of economies of scale affects assets in the digital space too. And in a cloud first world of software development, the dilemma draws even decisive lines. The software services we consume are more likely to reside in the cloud than a local server, and we can access them from a browser window.

The days of manually updating business applications across an organization once a month are numbered. The SaaS method of software distribution gives software vendors the liberty to update their software instances without involving their customers. The customers appreciate not going through the hassle every once in a while.

Cloud-based software services are updated several times a day without us noticing. There is a constant pursuit between vendors to remain the most recent and best version of their software implementation.

Cloud-induced competition makes software development teams busier than ever. When you are rushing through your software delivery pipelines, you look upon your software developers who are now working on one build after another in non-stop fashion. In such an ambivalent position, it’s natural for developers to seek respite from stringent quality control. However, a meticulous quality assessment team is unlikely to cut developers any slack and will expect a certain degree of aplomb. Developers will not take the concern lightly and would antagonize the testers, which may lead to an uneasy situation and unnecessary delays. Ultimately, you have to step-in to deescalate the situation.

For the success of your software development, you must make it easier for your developers and testers to collaborate.

Read on: 5 Most Common Custom Software Development Problems And Their Solutions

Developers and their role 

The role of a developer in a software development team varies across organizations. Modern organizations tend to expand their role from production to deployment. Fast moving technology companies often come up with independent DevOps teams consisting of developers and operations people, whose primary job role is to accelerate time from development to deployment.

Despite the evolution of a developers’ responsibility, they will spend most of their time writing code. Your developers might be writing code around modern best practices and inherent security. At the end of the day, they are either writing a new piece of code or optimizing the existing one based on feedback from the quality team.

Read on: A Day In The Life Of A Software Developer At Rare Crew

Testers and their role

In a typical software pipeline, quality assessment comes directly after production. Once the developers push the code to the test repository, it reaches the testers. Their job is to run the code against a number of predefined test cases. A test case could be a penetration test to examine the resilience of the codebase from intrusions, a functional test to conclude whether the software feature is doing what it is intended to, or a performance test to determine whether the resulting software is delivering upon the performance benchmarks.

Based on the results of the test scenarios, the tester will create a bug report on the new build and generate a ticket for the developer to address. The code continues to move back and forth between the developer and tester until the developer resolves all the bugs.

Once a tester marks a build as quality checked, it moves to the operation department for integration with the main codebase and eventual deployment.

What causes the conflict between developers and testers? 

The relationship between a developer and tester is of a strenuous nature and closely juxtaposes the one between an original creator and a vociferous critic. At its core, the job of a tester doesn't require acknowledging the hard work and dexterity a developer puts into code changes, and instead requires picking out flaws in it. On a practical level, the only thing they care about is how many bugs the code change introduces and when the developer will fix them.

At a time when developers are writing more code than ever before, some may not the biggest fan of testers. They may view them as a hindrance in their pursuit to push more code, which may trigger inter-team conflicts. Such a pessimistic culture may hinder collaboration between developers and testers which could affect deadlines and increase costs.

How can you bring testers and developers together?

In a collaborative culture, testers and developers understand that they cannot work without each other. Thus, rather than looking at each other in contempt, they work together to make each other’s job easier and move swiftly as a unit. Changing the culture may be the first attempt in making the two teams work together, yet there’s more to building a neat collaboration between your quality and development team.

1. Build a culture of trust

As mentioned above, you should build an environment of trust in your workplace. A culture that brings trust in your corporate DNA will go a long way in avoiding disagreements between your quality and development team.

A culture where developers feel they are being deliberately harassed by testers and testers feel they are being disregarded by developers is a recipe for disaster. Your culture should be around making each stakeholder feel secure.

2. Shift left

In a typical software delivery pipeline, the quality team comes into the picture after developers have pushed a code change to the testing branch of repository. Developers must wait for testers to run their scanners and share the bug report with them. Or worse, developers must suspend their current assignment to correct a bug in a code they wrote a week ago.

In a modern software pipeline, the code is tested as it’s being written through various testing automation and collaboration tools with the quality team. This shift left philosophy ensures code is of a high quality from the start.

3. Improve communication

Communication is the key for any kind of collaboration to happen. Teams that are in active communication with each other are less likely to enter conflicts. That goes for your testers and developers too. If they communicate and sort out trivial problems before they become an issue, they will avoid confrontations.

4. Avoid confrontations

What happens when a random person from the quality team confronts one a developer in the cafeteria? It will not go down well with other discontent members of your team who will view this as an opportunity to settle the score with the quality team.

Regardless of the context, every confrontation is bad for your organization. You need to make sure the respective team leaders are doing everything in their power to mitigate any situation which may lead to confrontations.

5. Automation

Automated testing is the way to keep up with the current software delivery practices. With automated scripts, not only are you making the testers’ job easier, but you’re also empowering developers to write quality code which they will spend less time fixing.

Sometimes no communication is the best communication. With testing automation, the conflicting team don’t have to communicate at all since test cases are running on their own. Additionally, quicker testing leads to quicker communication, which can resolve issues with frustration at waiting for tests. Additionally, an impartial automated script ‘correcting’ the hard work of a developer may avoid any feeling of being criticized that developers may experience. 

Not every test case can be automated, but testers must try to automate as many of them as possible. With more automated test cases, there will be fewer conflicts and better collaboration.

Benefits of test automation in agile development

Unlike the older, more linear ‘Waterfall’ approach where development comes first and testing comes second, Agile software development aims to integrate the work of developers and testers. As Agile methodology produces improved, working iterations of the product, it’s important for it to be tested as it goes. Test automation in Agile doesn’t only improve collaboration – it creates a variety of other benefits.

Improve accuracy

Automated tests reduce the need for testers to execute manual, repetitive tasks. Monotonous tasks can lead to slip-ups (no matter the tester’s experience), but automation can cut down on human errors, ultimately reducing the chances of bugs making it through the process.

Reduce costs

Despite seemingly high set-up costs, automated tests last for a long time and can run several times at no additional costs, thus driving the overall cost down.

Increase coverage

Automation lets you increase the amount of tests that you can do, increasing the scope of features you can test.

Alternatively, testing as a service (TaaS) can be a good way of ensuring flexible, scalable testing with a reduced time to market and cost-effective pricing.

Read more: Why You Should Consider TaaS Before Launching A Product.

What is the best practice when approaching an automation effort?

While there is no defined list of automation testing best practices, there are some things you should consider when looking to implement automation testing into your business processes.

Define your goals and scope

What do you want to achieve with automation? Which processes could benefit from automation

It may seem obvious, but this step is the first and most essential, so don’t underestimate its importance.

Get everyone on the same page

In addition to goals, it’s also essential to manage expectations. Make sure everyone at all levels of the process knows what can realistically be done through automation. Unrealistic expectations can cause excessive stress and project complications. Different members of the team will have different insights into the process, so make sure to involve everyone.

Prepare your employees

When processes are automated, the human element of the work is never completely removed, but rather changes. Employees will need to retrain to be able to execute automated processes, so it’s important to ensure proper guidance throughout the switch.

How do you become a software developer?

Software development is in high demand as countless aspects of our day-to-day lives require the creation and maintenance of software, from e-commerce to blockbuster movies. For those with a knack for problem-solving (and a good amount of patience), software development can be a great career.

Software is built using programming languages, so for absolute beginners choosing a language to learn is a good first step. While it isn’t always necessary, around 65% of programmers do have a bachelor’s degree. Accredited certifications can also prove your knowledge to employers. Experience is often the most valuable asset, and there are many tools and resources out there you can use to get learning and start building up a portfolio.

How do you become a software tester?

Software testing is an essential role in software development – while developers work hard to produce a quality product, there’s always a chance of code having unintended quirks and consequences. Between their importance and the necessity of software in today’s society, software testers are in high demand.

If you’re looking to get into software testing, you’re in luck. There are a variety of resources you can use to learn about software testing and certifications you can take to prove your skill, and as a plus, it isn’t always necessary to have qualifications to become a software tester. You can learn more in our article on how to become a software tester.

Your developers and testers are more likely to enter conflicts than anyone else in your team. Conflicts are bad for an effective collaboration which is why you must actively monitor those teams and avoid confrontations. These teams are supposed to raise the value of your organization, not indulge in senseless arguments.

Rare Crew empowers organizations to create teams for their next software development project in no time. As a comprehensive software development company, we have a team of professional developers, testers, operators, and support staff to get started on your project. Our company culture revolves around inter-team cooperation, collaborative processes, and the high-quality delivery of services.