When reviewing thousands of lines of code and testing all the different use cases imaginable, it can be challenging to know where to begin or what to prioritize first.
Luckily, ensuring quality software can be broken down into just a few basic things that will determine the end product. Let’s examine the three most important pillars of good software that an excellent software developer or QA engineer never loses sight of.
Security
Before anything else, any good software is secure. What this means, and the extent to which security is implemented, will depend on the nature of the program. Some simpler programs won’t collect sensitive data, and only minimal security measures are needed. Other programs will store payment or personal information, or have access to critical processes on the machine, and these need to be strictly protected to guard against potential leaks and hackers.
In any case, security is important – not just to protect the user from malicious third parties, but also from self-inflicted accidents.
Making a program secure doesn’t necessarily need to take a great deal of effort. An example: a clever way some online casinos have been made more secure is through the highly-encrypted messaging platform Telegram. These Telegram Casinos can be used to play slot games and the like directly on the Telegram app – completely anonymously.
Telegram is widely known as one of the most secure messaging platforms out there, which means a more secure platform without needing to create high-level encryption from scratch. You can also use other secure third parties to make a program more secure – registration through Google or Apple is one other example.
A few key things to consider regarding security are the following:
- Who has access to what? Both people and functions should only have the minimal access they need and only for as long as they need it.
- Is there any sensitive data you need to protect? If so, is it encrypted? What else can you do to ensure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands?
- Are there any functions that could create damage, and what measures have you taken to prevent that? Consider both accidents and malicious attacks. Maybe multifactor authentication is in order? Could you make important changes reversible?
- Are all the standard security measures in place? Besides everything else, it’s a good idea to have a checklist to go through at the end to ensure all the common security measures are being taken.
UX (User Experience)
The user experience is often a big focus of software testing, and it’s every bit as important as it’s made out to be. No matter how sophisticated a software program is in every other aspect, bad UX and UI can easily repel users. Furthermore, it’s impossible to know if the user experience is good if the program hasn’t been tested by real-world users.
When it comes to the user experience, regular test groups are your best friends. Having the target audience try out and give feedback is a necessary part of the process. It’s impossible to optimize for the user if you have no clue how they think. What seems intuitive to the developer or designer isn’t necessarily going to translate well to the actual users.
Of course, there are a lot of factors that impact UX. Things that play into the user experience include the following:
- User interface. The user interface, or UI, is an extensive topic in itself. The UI needs to look elegant and consistent, and each part should be designed to guide the user’s eye.
- Speed (and perceived speed.) Both speed and perceived speed are equally important. Loading bars and other animations largely determine how fast the software feels.
- Navigation. It should be easy to find what one is looking for, and a search function wherever it makes sense (tools, settings, etc.) can be a backup resort in case a user is struggling to find what they’re looking for.
- Responsiveness. Similar to perceived speed, a big part of UX is about ensuring that the user feels that the program is responding instantly. Animations and effects on hovering and clicking can smooth things over and make it clear to the user their input has been registered.
Efficiency
Almost as important as the user’s experience and safety is that the program has a certain efficiency. It should be economical with the machine’s resources; unless the task being executed does require a lot of processing power, the program shouldn’t either.
Software efficiency is a common place where good developers stumble. While rushing through completing a program, it’s easy not to consider where you might be able to make the program a bit more efficient – especially if a powerful personal computer bails you out.
It is important to remember that not every machine is guaranteed to have as much processing power as the unit the program is being developed on, and it’s important to make the program as accessible as possible.
And even as people, in general, get better and better machines, it’s just good practice to ensure the software you’re working on doesn’t use up more RAM or processing power than it needs to. To ensure your program is as efficient as possible, ask yourself:
- What processes or functions use up the most resources, and is this justified? Focusing on the aspects of the software that use the most resources will make the biggest difference, even if you’re only able to make the process slightly more efficient.
- Is there anything running in the background that doesn’t need to be? Don’t just focus on how resources are being used without considering when. If an intensive process runs, it might be time for non-urgent processes to go idle until more resources are freed up.
- Are there any duplicate or almost duplicate functions that could be refactored into one? Combining and reusing functions is one of the easiest ways of making the code not just more efficient, but also more manageable.
Conclusion: Putting It All Together
The core of software testing and QA is about seeing the big picture and noting the necessary changes to make a software program all-around good. This is most easily done with a few important guiding principles. By concentrating on a few important principles, a QA engineer can cover all the important things in the time delegated to the task.
There’s always going to be a balance between these important aspects. Sometimes security minimizes UX, and maybe a more efficient process is a less secure one. A banking app needs to emphasize security over UX, while for a mobile game, the priorities will be the opposite.
When it comes to knowing where to compromise, you’ll need to look at it on a case-by-case basis. The important thing here is intentionally prioritizing what matters the most, to ensure each program is as well suited to serving its specific purpose as possible.
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