Differences between QA and QC

Software quality is crucial in the development process to ensure that the final product meets user expectations and industry standards. Two key concepts in software quality management are Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC). While they are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct purposes in maintaining and improving software quality. QA is about preventing defects, whereas QC is about identifying them.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality Assurance (QA) is a process-oriented approach that focuses on preventing defects by ensuring proper methodologies, standards, and practices are followed throughout the development lifecycle. It emphasizes planning, documentation, and continuous improvement.

It is a proactive process that focuses on preventing defects in the software development lifecycle. It involves defining standards, processes, and methodologies to ensure high-quality software. QA aims to improve processes to minimize errors before they occur.

 

Examples of QA Activities

• Defining software development standards and best practices
• Implementing Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models
• Performing process audits and reviews
• Providing training and awareness programs on quality practices
• Using tools for process automation and improvement

Quality Control (QC)

Quality Control (QC) is a product-oriented approach that focuses on identifying defects in the final product through testing and inspection. It ensures the software meets specified requirements and is ready for release.

It is a reactive process that focuses on identifying defects in the final product. It involves executing test cases, detecting bugs, and ensuring the software meets functional and non-functional requirements. QC is performed after the development phase to verify the quality of the product.

Examples of QC Activities

• Executing test cases
• Performing functional and non-functional testing
• Detecting and reporting bugs
• Conducting regression testing to verify bug fixes
• Performing user acceptance testing (UAT)
• Performing code reviews and inspections

Differences between QA and QC

Some of the differences between QA and QC are as follows:

	Quality Assurance (QA)	Quality Control (QC)
Definition	QA is Process-oriented approach focused on preventing defects.	QC is Product-oriented approach focused on detecting defects. Are we building the product right?
Objective	Ensures processes are followed correctly to avoid errors.	Ensures the final product meets requirements by finding and fixing defects.
Technique	QA is a preventive technique	QC is a corrective technique.
Approach	Quality Assurance is Proactive measure (prevention of defects).	Quality Control is Reactive measure (detection of defects).
Activities	Process improvement, Audits, training, standardization.	Testing, bug identification, verification, validation.
Responsibility	QA team ensures processes are defined and followed.	QC team executes tests and identifies defects in the product.
Focus	Improving the software development process.	Ensuring the quality of the final product.