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What is QA (quality assurance)?

QA (quality assurance) is the work of testing software to find problems before users do: checking that features work, that they hold up on different devices and browsers, and that edge cases don't break things. It's a distinct step, not something to squeeze in at the end, and it's where a lot of a product's reliability comes from.

Good QA combines automated tests with human testing that tries to break things the way real users might. It covers the happy path and the messy reality: bad input, slow connections, unusual devices, and the mistakes people actually make.

Skimping on QA is a false economy. Bugs found in testing are cheap to fix. The same bugs found by customers cost trust, support time, and emergency fixes. A realistic project plan gives QA real time, especially for anything handling money or personal data.

Updated July 2026

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