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Normally unit tests were written by developer who write the code, i.e. Test Driven Development.

So what does Software Engineer in Test do?

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I really don't understand the question - could you rephrase/explain it? – David_001 Sep 23 '10 at 13:30
I mean the job functions – Yoga Sep 23 '10 at 13:31
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineer from wiki I think Software Engineer is a generic term and doesn't point to any particular designation – Sri Kumar Sep 23 '10 at 13:37
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Terrible question. – luis.espinal Oct 15 '10 at 11:50

4 Answers

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Short answer: SETs (or SDETs as we call them at MS) test well beyond what can be done by unit testing (integration, performance, scale, reliability, etc.), and write programs, tools, and automated tests to aid in the effort. The role is quite similar at Google.

Longer answer: I've written about the role (both directly and indirectly) on my blog. Start with this post on careers, or search the site for SDET.

Longest answer: Read my book.

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I currently work as a sort of SET (although my job designation is still SE). What I do mainly is to create unit tests and load tests for the finished application (or almost finished) in addition to those made by the people actually coding on it.

Depending on the app I am testing, it involves the creation of unit tests, automated UI tests, and writing various test scripts to interact with and test the application. Often this involves the use of one or more test tools/frameworks and a small amount of coding.

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They write code to test Software Engineers' code. A lot of times they develop automated test tools. AFAIK, Google, Microsoft and other big software companies hire a lot of SETs.

Test engineers utilize three types of testing strategies which are known as black box, white box and gray box testing.

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Yes, but since developer should also write unit tests, so how they work together in fact? – Yoga Sep 23 '10 at 13:39
@Yoga, developer unit test at their component level. Test engineer goes beyond that. I have added two links. – grokus Sep 23 '10 at 13:58
OP asked about SET, not STE. SET usually is used very specifically to refer to someone who codes tests whereas STE is often a catch all term for anyone executing tests. See @MAK's answer. – MIA Sep 23 '10 at 14:31
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That is what I currently do.

I focus on being the Other Guy, the Adversary who stands in for the customer and tries to break the code.

I write piles of functional tests and supporting libraries.

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