The lifecycle of a piece of software begins with an idea, spends the majority of its life in the developmental stage, and finally is tested thoroughly both internally and externally before being publicly released. Kaspersky Lab defines beta testing as the “external testing of [a] product in order to identify configurations that cause problems, as well as collect requirements and suggestions from users” (n.d.). As the beta version of a piece of software is not the final version, it is not guaranteed to be without bugs. Internal testing will only yield so many results as the number of devices and configurations upon which testing can be done is limited. However, by enlisting the help of the public, the number of devices and configurations is nearly limitless. This ensures a much better representative sample of how well a piece of software will work when it is released to the public. Beta testing is an absolutely essential stage of the software development lifecycle as it helps ensure a product’s success.
References
Kaspersky Lab. (n.d.). Beta Testing | What Is Beta Testing. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.kaspersky.com/downloads/beta_testing
Roth, Matthew. (2011). Coding Shots Annual Plan high res-5.jpg. [Photograph]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coding_Shots_Annual_Plan_high_res-5.jpg
Hi Jonathan, your post is very informative. Yes, releasing beta versions in public for testing is definitely more effective than internal testing. However, it should be limited. The best example of this is appleSeed.apple.com where they send invitation to selected testers. On the contrary, the worst example can be of Netscape where system got flooded with too many reports from too many testers.
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