Monday, January 14, 2008

What should every professional software tester know?

As part of the Professionalism in IT initiative, the British Computer Society (BCS) recently asked for input in order to produce a Core Body of Knowledge for IT professionals. The aim of this work is to counter the “silo effect” that has resulted from increasing specialisation within IT:

“As the scope of IT has broadened, those working in IT have become increasingly specialised. As a result, IT professionals have less understanding of what each other do, are less able to work effectively together and are less likely to know who to turn to when faced with problems beyond their own competence.”

I’d be interested in what you think every professional software tester should know, especially with respect to those areas of knowledge that fall outside the domain of software testing.

Please share your thoughts on this topic.