Overview of Testing - Software Testing: Testing Across the Entire Software Development Life Cycle - page 23

If problems occurred on either the input or output side during the batch runs, the
end-user never knew it. This closed environment enabled programmers to correct a
defect without the end-user's knowledge of the nature of the defect, the nature of the
correction, or the amount of time necessary to perform the correction. Therefore,
the end-user perceived the system to be perfect. Continued system maintenance
over a number of years did, in fact, yield software that was incredibly stable and
defect-free.
As the closed system was opened to the end-user via dumb terminals (data
display only, no process intelligence like personal computers), the end-user saw
how fl awlessly this mature software worked. When newer software systems were
developed, the systems' immaturity was immediately evident by comparison with
the tried and true older systems. Initially, some developers lost their jobs over
the poor quality of the new software. End-user pressure to return to the quality
of the older systems prompted software development groups to seek and employ
development processes for delivering the same software quality. This software was
not necessarily better, just consistent in quality. Testing was considered “monkey-
work.” The authors of this textbook contend that, because testing was held in such
low esteem, developers with the best processes soon hit a quality brick wall. The
developers' response to end-user complaints of software defects, instability, and
unreliability became, “We are using the best development processes in the industry.
This is the best we can do.”
After a couple of decades of hearing “This is the best we can do,” end-users
and software customers apparently began to believe it. Still, no professional testing
was done. Several topics were published about the phenomenon of end-user quality
expectations converging downward to meet the software developers' assurance of
best effort. Mark Minasi's topic, The Software Conspiracy , notes the resurging
consumer awareness of the relatively poor quality of the new century software. Mark
documented a growing consumer constituency that started sending the message, “You
can do much better” to the software industry through selective product boycotts. [11]
Smart software developers began to realize that if they were going to survive in the
marketplace, they must team with professional testers to get over the quality brick
wall.
To illustrate the point, ask yourself how many times you must reboot your busi-
ness computer each year. If you reboot more than once or twice a year and have not
complained bitterly to your business software retailer, welcome to the world of lower
software expectations.
1.5.2 The Role of Testing Professionals in Software
Development
Many software professions require very sophisticated technical skills. These pro-
fessions include software developers, database developers, network developers, and
systems administrators. The authors contend that the best software testers must have
advanced skills drawn from all of these software professions. No other software