Why a Testing Career Is Not the First Choice of Engineers

Many software disasters – such as Ariane-5 [1] and the air traffic control system in LA airport [2] – have occurred in software product development. In fact, many others are happening as we write. The US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found, in its 2002 study, that the country is losing $59.5 billion each year due to software errors [3]. Charette [4] argues that we waste billions of dollars annually on entirely preventable mistakes in software development. Micro Focus [5] report points out that the effects of poor testing stretch beyond the back office; they also affect the boardroom and even the brand name. As software systems are becoming larger, more complex, and dependent on many third-party software components, the chances of their failure are increasing further. This calls for intense efforts to improve the quality of testing in the software development process.