Tester vs Developer

July 1, 2019

---

Introduction :

This is a never-ending, nerve racking and brainstorming debate. A topic that never can have a conclusion , no solution. Competition is stiff, so is the argument list over the same. Since the inception of software development, this ideology has begun to breed. A developer always emphasises his share of responsibility to be of utmost importance in terms of developing an application whereas a tester tries to highlight that a product will remain stagnant if it does not pass through quality assurance. So let us have a closer view on this topic.

Role of a Developer :

• Develops or builds an application as per client requirements.
• Involved in writing code for the application to be built.
• More technically inclined to the execution of software application.
• Good deal of knowledge about the language used in the development of the product being built.
• Builds an optimized application.

Role of a Tester :

• Tester sees that the software application meets the client requirements.
• He checks whether the code produces the desired output or not.
• Performs verification and validation testing.
• Reports any bugs, in a timely manner.
• Finds the root cause of the bug and brings to the notice of the developers.

Skills required :

It is an interesting fact that the requirement of both these are equally important in the effective implementation of a project. Both the team need a different skill set to fit into the environment.

• Developer skills : Ideally, a developer is expected to have knowledge about a specific programming language to be able to code for the application. A language can be - C, Java, Ruby, Python etc. Based on the requirement of a project. Often developers with knowledge in any of the programming languages can be trained further in some languages also.
• Tester skills : Unlike a developer , a tester is not expected to do full time coding, but definitely is required to have good programming knowledge , to be able to gauge the proceedings in the development phase. After all the developed product has to finally pass through quality check , which has to be performed by the tester.

Quality is something that can never be compromised. It forms the core of the software development life cycle. Over the past few decades, automation testing has gained popularity just like its counterpart, that is, manual testing. Development and testing are inter related tasks, one is incomplete in the absence of another. Undoubtedly, development is a tedious task and demands great deal of diligence to accomplish a project.

Conclusion :

Concluding the topic, we can state that each one has their own share of roles and responsibilities, and the whole task needs to be completed as a team than a singular task. It is a true saying “unity is strength”. Although competition is good, it is important to value each other's work and move forward as a team.