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The differences between quality assurance developers and software developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a quality assurance developer and a software developer. Additionally, a quality assurance developer has an average salary of $91,359, which is higher than the $87,521 average annual salary of a software developer.
The top three skills for a quality assurance developer include python, QA and java. The most important skills for a software developer are java, python, and C++.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Software Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,359 | $87,521 |
| Hourly rate | $43.92 | $42.08 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 175,658 | 294,329 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A quality assurance developer creates well-structured, comprehensive, and detailed test cases, test plans, and test strategies. They develop and implement test automated test cases and automation frameworks. Besides setting automation creation and maintenance targets, a quality assurance developer also designs, creates, and executes automation scripts. Moreover, quality assurance developers review technical design documents, requirements, and specifications to deliver timely and useful feedback. Finally, quality assurance developers monitor all software development stages to note, track and solve all system and application issues so as to meet the required quality standards.
A software developer is responsible for designing application systems to support the user and business' needs. Duties of a software developer include testing software codes, performing diagnostic programs and troubleshooting, interpreting system data and establishing efficient parameters, and ensuring the compatibility of the systems. A software developer must have an excellent knowledge of computer programs and programming languages to understand its complexities, especially on detecting system defects and malfunctions. A software developer must have strong attention to detail, communication, and decision-making skills to coordinate with the team and also work independently under minimal supervision.
Quality assurance developers and software developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Developer | Software Developer | |
| Average salary | $91,359 | $87,521 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $121,000 | Between $67,000 And $113,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | NVIDIA | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance developer and a software developer in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Software Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between quality assurance developers' and software developers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Developer | Software Developer | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.3% Female, 30.7% | Male, 79.3% Female, 20.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |