I’ve been thinking about this term and I’d be curious to know what you think about it, or what your own definition might be.
There’s no entry in the MoT Glossary as yet so maybe we can find some to add. Thanks
To get the ball rolling, here’s mine.
A generalist is a software tester that has aquired at least good or intermediary knowledge of several software testing areas. Sometimes described as Comb or Tree shaped testers they can do initial testing in multiple areas of testing. While that testing might not be as deep as a specialist, it can identify more potential issues or risks quickly and allow specialists to focus on the nuances particular to their discipline.
I think Generalist is just a term not related to software testing.
It means " one whose skills, interests, or habits are varied or unspecialized" and this could be applied to everything.
So generalist in software testing is a tester whose skills, interests, or habits are varied or unspecialized
Basically a guy who knows a bit about everything in testing.
I can’t answer the specialist and not the Generalist!
I consider myself a generalist so I would say a generalist is someone who is passionate about their profession and working with people within it. They have sought understanding multiple areas of that profession without seeking to specialise in any of them, so can help specialists with how to approach situations that can impact others.
In medical science We know about general surgeon right who can do multiple kind of surgery, or general practitioner who treat many kind of illness, similarly in software testing, generalist is someone who has wide range of knowledge in testing domain instead of havinge expertise in any particular testing domain.
In the context of software testing, I’d say a generalist is someone who can do a lit bit of everything, but not to a deep extent. They have basic to good skills in many areas, but no particular area in which they’re highly skilled / experienced.
