QA Revolution

Does a great programmer equal a great tester?

One of the questions that many people have asked over the years is: does a great programmer equal a great tester?  It is certainly a valid question and one that I am going to answer for you.  Here are some general thought provoking questions to determine the qualities of a great tester.

  1. Willingness to learn.  Does this person have the strong desire to learn new things?  Are they always coming up with new things they would like to implement because they have either taken a class or read something or learned something new from someone else?
  2. Attention to detail.  Has their been attention to detail with the work they have done as a programmer?  Do they really work hard to understand the requirements and what the business expects in order to get the development completed?  Great testers have tremendous attention to detail and they have a solid understanding of the needs of the business.
  3. Strong Unit Tests.  Does this developer have strong unit tests and is the code they produce and hand over to the testing department relatively free of defects?  Great testers are tremendous assets and find lots of high quality defects.  They ensure once they have tested code, it is solid and ready to go to production.
  4. Team Player.  Is this person a strong team player and willing to jump in and help others when they need help?  Do they work well across teams and have a positive impact with the people that they work with?  Great testers are tremendous team players and work well within their QA department and across other departments.
  5. Follow Process.  Does this developer follow the established processes of their department?  Great testers follow established processes of the QA organization and help to add new ones that will move the department forward.
  6. High degree of passion.  Are they passionate about the work they do and is that demonstrated through the work they complete?  Great testers are very passionate and that is evident by the work they produce.
  7. Stand up.  Does this person stand up when things aren’t quite right and push back when needed?  Great testers have thick skin and are willing to stand up when things aren’t right.
  8. Love the company.  Is this person dedicated to the company they are working for or the client they are supporting?  This person needs to be invested and believe in the company they are working for.  So if they are asked to become a great tester, they will.

I hope this list helps you figure out if a great developer will make a great tester.  There are more things you can look for in order to make that determination, but this is certainly a good start.

If you would like more information on Agile, DevOps or Software Testing, please visit my Software Testing Blog or my Software Testing YouTube Channel.

Ron Wilson