Before I jump into the title of this post, I would like to touch upon the base term – ‘Quality’.
If I look into oxford dictionary as a layman, I get the following definitions of the word ‘Quality’.
- The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.
- A distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something.
Everyone has their own interpretation of quality. Broadly, Quality means “conformance to requirements”. ISO 9000’s states quality as – “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirement”.
Coming to more technical details,
A Product developer will define quality as– The product which meets the customer requirements.
The Customer will define Quality as – Required functionality is provided with user friendly interface.
The Customer will define Quality as – Required functionality is provided with user friendly interface.
With reference to quality, QA and QC are two terms that are used most frequently and almost interchangeably. Let’s define both the terms.
Quality Assurance (QA): It may be defined as processes of software quality that assures that the standards, processes, and procedures are appropriate for the project and are correctly implemented.
QA refers to the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production.
There are two principles included in Quality Assurance:
- “Fit for purpose”, the product should be suitable for the intended purpose
- “Right first time”, mistakes should be eliminated.
Quality Control (QC): It may be defined as the function of software quality that checks that the project follows its standards, processes, and procedures, and that the project produces the required internal and external (deliverable) products. It is performed by testing a sample of the output against the specification
If I have to differentiate between the two, I would do that as –
Quality Assurance is the process of managing for quality that makes sure you are doing the right things, the right way.
Quality Control verifies the quality of the output and makes sure the results of what you’ve done are what you expected.
Quality Control verifies the quality of the output and makes sure the results of what you’ve done are what you expected.
Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control (QA Vs QC)
|
Quality Assurance
|
Quality Control
|
|
It is a proactive quality process.
|
QC is a reactive process.
|
|
The goal of QA is to improve development and test processes so that defects do not arise when the product is being developed.
|
The goal of QC is to identify (and correct) defects after a product is developed and before it’s released.
|
|
Verification is an example of QA
|
Validation/Software Testing is an example of QC
|
|
QA is a managerial tool
|
QC is a corrective tool
|
|
It does not involve executing the program or code.
|
It always involves executing the program or code.
|
|
All peoples who are involved in the developing software application as responsible for the quality assurance.
|
Testing team is responsible for Quality control.
|
|
Establish a good quality management system and the assessment of its adequacy. Periodic conformance audits of the operations of the system.
|
Finding & eliminating sources of quality problems through tools & equipment so that customer’s requirements are continually met.
|
|
Quality Assurance is the process of managing for quality;
|
Quality Control is used to verify the quality of the output
|
|
Quality Assurance is process oriented
|
Quality Control is product oriented
|
|
It identifies weakness in processes to improve them.
|
It identifies defects to be fixed.
|
|
It is done before Quality Control.
|
It is done only after Quality Assurance activity is completed.
|
|
Quality Assurance means Planning done for doing a process.
|
Quality Control Means Action has taken on the process by execute them.
|