Testing overview

The famous Java programmer, Bruce Eckel, come up with a slogan which highlights the importance of testing software:

If it ain't tested, it's broken.

Though a confident programmer may challenge this, it beautifully highlights the ability to determine that code works as expected over and over again, without any exception. How do we know that the code that we are shipping to the end user or customer is of good quality and all the user requirements would work? By testing? Yes, by testing, we can be confident that the software works as per customer requirements and specifications. If there are any discrepancies between expected and actual behavior, it is referred to as a bug/defect in the software. The earlier the discrepancies are caught, the more easily they can be fixed before the software is shipped; and the results is good quality. No wonder  software testers are also referred to as quality control analysts in various software firms. The mantra for a good software tester would...