Why testers become developers, and developers become testers

Tech is one of the most mobile industries there is. Approaches to programming change, so do the tools and, of course, the roles within a team. Some professions reach a peak of demand, others lose it, and some hold their position steadily.

One of the most noticeable trends is people moving between roles, both within a company and beyond it. Such moves are usually easier between adjacent specialisms — testing and development, for instance.

These two are closely connected, and understanding where their tasks overlap and where they differ is what helps professionals widen their options and build a successful career. Acquiring new competencies makes a specialist more flexible in the job market.

How testers and developers differ

Let's work out how the two professions differ and where they are alike.

Testers assure software quality. Their work involves finding defects, writing tests to check functionality, analysing requirements and automating testing. The tester's main goal is to be sure the product meets every requirement and runs without failures.

Developers, for their part, write and maintain the code. Their main focus is building new features and improving performance. Their work also covers the software's architecture and the final implementation of technical decisions.

What testers and developers have in common

For all that their tasks differ, there is a good deal that unites them:

• Working with code: QA automation engineers use programming languages to write automated tests, just as developers write code to build applications and software.
• Working with similar tooling: both use APIs, databases and CI/CD systems to automate their processes.
• The end result: ultimately the work of both tester and developer is to give end users a good product with as few defects as possible, and that is only possible when both do their jobs well.

Moving from testing into development

What might motivate a tester to move into development? One of the main reasons is a wish to trade routine operations for something more creative. It is no secret that a QA engineer's work often means carrying out the same operations in sequence, while development is regarded as the more creative direction. Testing does offer ways to escape routine and develop — moving from manual testing into automation, for instance — but the widest scope for anyone who wants to work with code is software development. Sharpening your technical skills and learning new languages also opens career prospects and, with them, better pay. That is what makes the move attractive to many testers: in development, salaries are often measured purely by skill and the upper limit is fairly indistinct.

Moving from development into testing

Moving from testing into development is common enough, but what about the reverse? It happens for various reasons — a wish to reduce stress and the sheer volume of work, among them.

Development work often means effectively irregular hours: firm deadlines or urgent changes can produce overtime and additional strain, whereas in testing that can be managed by trimming the test plan.

Shift-left testing is also producing a wave of such moves. It is the practice of testing software at the earliest stages of development, and a developer's experience is particularly valuable there.

How do you change direction?

To make the move as quickly as possible, it helps to build up a set of skills and widen what you can do.

For testers moving into development:

• Learning programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript)
• Getting started with Git and version control
• Getting to grips with algorithms and data structures
• Learning to write unit tests

For developers wanting to move into testing:

• Writing automated tests using test frameworks
• Testing APIs with Postman or SoapUI
• Studying test design principles
• Developing analytical thinking and the ability to ask the right questions

Whichever route you choose, it will widen your skills and make you a more versatile specialist. And the result of that effort is the chance to take on new positions and open new career prospects. Along the way, though, be ready for some challenges: you will certainly need time to adapt to the tasks and to a new style of work.

There are a great many examples in tech of successful moves in both directions. Some people change profession to find a balance between creativity and analysis, others for career growth or new challenges. If you have decided to change direction within tech, there is universal advice you can apply right now to make the move easier later. Start with the fundamentals: take a course in automation (QA Automation) or in programming (Full Stack Developer), then practise on real projects, open source or coursework included. The ideal is to find a mentor or successful examples to follow, so that you can build a plan point by point and reach the goal you want.