Qa

Quality Assurance (QA) is a systematic set of activities intended to ensure that a product or service meets specified quality standards. QA encompasses the planning, documentation, implementation, and improvement of processes used to develop, manufacture, or deliver products.

QA is process-oriented and preventive. It focuses on preventing defects by improving the development and business processes, whereas quality control (QC) is product-oriented and aims to identify defects in finished products.

Common QA activities include quality planning, establishing standards and procedures, process definition and modeling, training, audits and process assessments, configuration and change management, and metrics collection for process capability and quality performance. Standards such as ISO 9001, software-specific processes like ISO/IEC 12207, and maturity models such as CMMI are often used to guide QA activities.

In software engineering, quality assurance covers the entire lifecycle, including requirements quality, design reviews, process adherence, and test planning. Testing is a component of QA but is generally considered a QC activity within the broader QA framework. SQA roles include QA engineer, quality analyst, and process improvement specialist.

The history of QA traces to manufacturing quality control and quality management practices, later adopted by software development as software quality assurance to address process flaws and prevent defects. The goal is to improve reliability, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction by ensuring consistent, measurable quality outcomes.

Outcomes of effective QA include higher process maturity, better defect prevention, reduced rework, and more predictable delivery performance.