Quality Control
Also known as: QC
Quality Control (QC) is the reactive, product-focused work of finding defects in something that's already been built — running test cases, executing test scripts, and inspecting output against requirements. It's distinct from Quality Assurance, which is the proactive, process-focused work of preventing defects in the first place.
Most of what a tester does day to day — executing test cases, filing bug reports, verifying fixes — is technically QC, even on a team that calls itself "QA." The distinction rarely shows up in job titles or team names, but it's useful for reasoning about where different activities sit: writing a coding standard is QA; running a regression suite against a build is QC.
The practical takeaway isn't to relabel your team — it's to notice that a healthy quality practice needs both. QC alone (testing everything at the end) catches defects late and expensively. QA alone (process without verification) has no way to confirm the process actually worked. The strongest testing organizations invest in both halves.
