Steve Asks All Things

Ask All Things!

Steve asked a great question:

Hi Joe. I love reading your blog I check it daily. I have a question for you. What do you think about Black Box Quality Assurance testing holds in the future? I have 15 years of experience under my belt, but I do not want to shift into Automation testing, I don't like to code. Do you think that I have future just doing Black Box Testing? Thanks.

Regards,
steve

Thanks for reading, Steve!

I've been in Quality Assurance for almost 25 years. During that entire time, manual Black Box Testing has always existed in many (most?) companies, and I don't see that going away for the foreseeable future. copyrightjoestrazzere

That said, there is really no such thing as purely manual software testing - we all use tools, and those tools have changed over time. Some tools require coding, but many do not.

You owe it to yourself to become familiar with the kinds of tools used in your industry. Automation tools, Web Services tools, Database Query tools, Performance Testing tools - many of these are completely accessible without any significant coding.

Performing only Black Box testing almost certainly won't mean that you have no future. But limiting yourself will always narrow your future options.

Great question, Steve! Good luck in your career.

-joe

Do you have questions? Use the new "ASK ALL THINGS" widget over on the right-hand panel. Send me questions about anything:

• about the testing profession
• about test automation
• about bug tracking
• about being a Manager
• about testing and QA jobs
• about quality
• anything!

I'll read through the questions, pick some that not only interest you and me, but questions that I think will interest others. Together we can not only get you the answers you need, but we can provide others with some useful information as well.

Ask All Things!

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This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

	My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance. I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing. Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.