testing (QA) A planned and systematic pattern of all actions
necessary to provide adequate confidence that the product
optimally fulfils customers' expectations, i.e. that it is
problem-free and well able to perform the task it was designed
for.
The QA of a commercial product usually involves
alphatesting, where an early version of the product is tested at
the developer's site, and is then improved accordingly. Then,
an almost complete version of the product is made available
identified during beta testing should be fixed before the
product is released for full scale manufacturing and
distribution.
(2001-04-21)