[DJGeorgeT]

hiring freeze here as well.

at least I am glad there is a group that tries to test the software before it is released.

when I was interviewing just out of college, I found many companies, which were mostly small companies, would not hesitate to release a half baked product in order to beat the competition and hoped that once in the market they would have a working firmware. And had this awesome plan that during the first year they would hear from end users and fix any bugs found.

 

[ericj]

I'm currently working at a place that's been developing software for 15 years, and only 2 years ago decided that QA might be a good idea.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting in a meeting with a major customer who'd come in for a few days to be the first from the outside to try a new module.

Who stated that it was the first time his expectations were exceeded. That, for the very first time, the software does precisely what it's supposed to do. And works.

And then he mentioned the three things he'd like to see changed - and they were precisely the issues I'd brought up during the early stages of testing.

The sad part is that, on the whole, the product isn't anywhere near as good as it should be.

It could be worse. Especially in this economy.

It isn't that freescale isn't hiring software QA lately - it's that they've never hired it for that business unit. ever. Not local to that particular office, anyway. And yes, it helps immensely if your QA staff is able to maintain a positive interpersonal relationships with your engineering staff. Which is hard to do when they live in another country, speak another language, work vastly different hours, and have a different boss who doesn't answer to the same people.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Quality usually takes the backseat because quality:
1) takes time and pushes project dates further out.
2) costs money and nobody wants to spend 1 cent more than the bare minimum

So the three legged table consisting of quality, schedule, and money collapses.

On the other hand, a project may have too much focus on quality and as a result, the development costs skyrocket and schedules may constantly be pushed out.

Luckily my company is pretty balanced. It is all about innovation, quality and testing testing and more testing, but also about scheduling and expectations all under budged. In a given time, one factor might be emphasized, but overall, it is pretty balanced.

 

[Signal2Noise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm currently working at a place that's been developing software for 15 years, and only 2 years ago decided that QA might be a good idea. ....

Oh? You work at Adobe?

 

[Inquisitor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewF /img/forum/go_quote.gif Zunenfreude?

hahaha, very nice...

 

[Inquisitor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingman /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is the first time I've heard of a product capable of bricking by itself, and is then capable of self-repairing...

Have you seen any of the Terminator movies? Skynet is actually Microsoft. Which is why I own a Zune. Because apparently we don't beat the machines. So I joined them!