For every product, quality is one factor that can never be compromised. In the Software industry also, Quality Assurance (QA) plays an important role.
As the name suggests, QA covers all the aspects required to guarantee a high-quality product. Starting from developing processes for each development stage, finding errors and fixing them to ensuring an error-free product, to measure the quality of the software, the entire process comes under QA.
This is one of the reasons why Quality assurance skills are in constant demand. In this piece, we have jotted down 9 popular skills for QA in 2021.
Testing
Testing is an important QA skill. The ultimate objective of hardware and software development is to present a product that is seamless and error-free.
Testing is the process that indicates checking if the objectives are met. It involves the execution of the system components using manual or automated tools to evaluate the properties of interest.
This makes software testing jobs of major importance.
Selenium
Prior to Selenium, testing of web apps was mostly manual which used to take a lot of time. Selenium is a portable framework required for testing web applications like Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Selenium software isn't a single tool but is a suite of software where each piece caters to various QA testing requirements of a company. Multiple programming languages such as Java, Python, etc can be used to create a Selenium Test script.
This is why Selenium is one of the most popular skills required for software testers and is visible in the rising demand for Selenium jobs as well.
Automation Testing
Automation testing is another QA skill that has hit the popular skills required for QA testers list.
Automation testing/ Test automation is a software testing technique that performs with the help of specially automated testing software tools to execute a test case suite.
It can also perform other tasks such as enter test data into the system under test, compare the actual and expected results and generate well-detailed reports. Its popularity is evident from the rising demand for Automation testing jobs.
Java
Java is one of the popular software tester skills. To begin with, Java is a programming language designed to reduce implementation dependencies.
Due to its fast, reliable, and secure nature, Java is widely used across various gadgets. Also, Java's runtime provides dynamic capabilities that are typically unavailable in traditional compiled languages. This makes Java jobs one of the most popular career options.
Manual Testing
Manual testing is another one of the popular skills for QA. To put it simply, Manual testing is a variant of software testing that is conducted manually with the help of a tester.
One of the main tasks of Manual testing is to identify critical bugs, issues, and defects in a software application. This is important as the ultimate motive of a product is to be delivered error-free.
Since 100% Automation is not possible as per one of the Software testing fundamentals, manual testing jobs become extremely important.
API Testing
Application Programming Interface (API) testing is another important QA skill. API is a computing interface that helps in data exchange and communication between two different software systems.
API testing is a type of software testing that validates API. Its major functions include checking the functionality, reliability, security, and performance of the programming interfaces, thereby making API testing jobs important in the field of software.
Python
Python is a high-level programing language that emphasizes code readability and is required by both testers and software developers. It also supports multiple programming paradigms which include structured, object-oriented, and functional programming.
Python's easy-to-learn syntax helps in readability, thereby reducing the program maintenance cost. Also, it supports modules and packages that encourage code reuse and program modularity.
Thus Python continues to rank as one of the most popular software tester skills and ever-increasing Python jobs.
Cucumber
Another of the many Software tester skills that have gained popularity is Cucumber. It supports behavior-driven development.
In simple terms, Cucumber reads the specifications that can be executed in plain text and then validates whether or not that particular software is as per its specificational demands.
Although previously it was used only for Ruby testing, Cucumber currently supports other programming languages like Java via various implementations. Its rising popularity has also led to the growth of Cucumber jobs.
SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL) is one of the most popular software tester skills. It is the standard language to handle Relational databases.
SQL can be utilized to insert, search, update and delete database records. It can also perform other operations such as optimization and database maintenance.
SQL is especially useful in handling structured data. In addition, SQL introduced concepts of accessing many records with a single command and also eliminates the need to specify how to reach a record. With so many advantages offered, SQL jobs are a hot favorite in the country.
QA engineers play a crucial role in the software production field, making it important to stay abreast of the skills for QA.
QA engineering jobs are one of the Top jobs for Software engineers to look out for, so staying updated on quality assurance skills is absolutely imperative.
Also read: 25 QA Interview Questions.
All the Best!
