from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
quality assurance
<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 {alpha
testing}, 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
for {beta testing} by (selected) real users. Faults
identified during beta testing should be fixed before the
product is released for full scale manufacturing and
distribution.
(2001-04-21)