What to reply to a non-programmer who thinks that testing is unnecessary or secondary
At some point during his or her career, a programmer might come across the following argument, presented by some colleague, partner, or decision maker:
Since we can always test our software by hand, we do not need to implement Automated Software Testing.
Apparently, I reached that point in my career, so now I need to debate this argument. I decided to be a good internet citizen and publish my thoughts. So, in this post I am going to be deconstructing that argument, and demolishing it from every angle that it can be examined. I will be doing so using language that is easy to process by people from outside of our discipline.
In the particular company where that argument was brought forth, there exist mitigating factors which are specific to the product, the customers, and the type of relationship we have with them, all of which make the argument not as unreasonable as it may sound when taken out of context. Even in light of these factors, the argument still deserves to be blown out of the water, but I will not be bothering the reader with the specific situation of this company, so as to ensure that the discussion is applicable to software development in general.
In its more complete form, the argument may go like this:
