QA vs Testing vs Quality Assurance vs Quality Control

Summary

Testing is the specific activity of executing test cases; QA is the broader discipline of preventing defects through process; Quality Control is checking the output for defects — terms often used loosely and interchangeably in practice.

• 1Learn the formal distinction between these terms, even though real job titles blend them.
• 2Notice how 'QA Engineer' job postings actually describe a mix of all these activities.
• 3Understand this vocabulary mostly matters for interviews and formal process documentation.