If you ask an AI model, "I need to get my car cleaned, and the car wash is 100 metres away, should I walk or drive?", several popular LLMs tell you to walk. They give you a well-written breakdown on saving petrol, squeezing in a quick bit of exercise, and avoiding the hassle of starting an engine for a short trip.It sounds sensible, until you remember the physical reality: walking 100 metres leaves your dirty car sitting in the driveway.The model isn't reasoning. It catches keywords like "100 metres", "walk", and "drive", and immediately routes down a path of health and environmental advice. It completely misses the actual goal because it lacks a basic mental model of how the physical world fits together.

The backend is the server-side part of an application that users do not directly see or interact with. It handles hidden tasks like data storage, processing logic, and communication between systems.

The frontend is the user-facing part of a website, mobile app, or software system that people directly see, touch, and interact with.

Colour blind (or colour vision deficiency/CVD) means having a reduced ability to see differences between certain colours. Most people who are colour blind can still see colours, but they have trouble telling specific hues apart—most commonly red and green.It's important to consider this when doing accessibility testing especially colour contrast.

Network throttling testing is the practice of intentionally slowing down internet connection speeds to simulate how a web application or mobile app performs under slow, latent, or unreliable network conditions.It can be part of performance testing or conducted separately.Developers and QEs use this technique to see what end-users with poor coverage or slower mobile connections (such as 3G or slow 4G) will experience, rather than just relying on the ultra-fast speeds typically available in a corporate office.

The practice of evaluating software applications under real-world conditions with actual end-users, unconstrained by simulated or controlled laboratory environments. It allows Quality Engineering (QE) teams to assess performance, usability, and functionality across highly fragmented device types, network speeds, and operating systems.Examples include but are not limited to: testing your website or mobile application whilst walking around, internet reception varying including connecting to unreliable cafe wifi, losing connection completely on the underground train etc. 

A a software testing methodology that assesses how an application responds to and recovers from unexpected disruptions. Its goal is to ensure the app handles interruptions gracefully without crashing, losing user progress, or compromising data integrity. Most commonly associated with Mobile Application Testing, dealing with incoming notifications, phone calls, no internet etc. also known as interrupt testing,

Soft skills are the non-technical, interpersonal, and cognitive abilities that determine how a professional manages workloads, solves problems, and collaborates across teams. Opposite of soft skills are technical "hard" skillsTogether these competencies dictate a Quality Engineer's true impact and career trajectory.

Navigating with the keyboard only is one effective method of accessibility testing.Checking the tab order is logical, that everything can be tabbed to, escape can be used to exit modals etc. 

Traditionally known as Quality Assurance - A QA team tests code, apps, and platforms to find bugs or usability issues. Their role spans the entire development lifecycle. See https://www.ministryoftesting.com/software-testing-glossary/quality-assuranceBut others use QA to refer to:Question Asker

See Accessibilityhttps://www.ministryoftesting.com/software-testing-glossary/accessibility-testing

UAT (User Acceptance Testing) is the final phase of the software testing lifecycle, where real business users validate that the system meets their needs and operates as intended in real-world scenarios. It helps to ensures the software is "fit for business" prior to public release or deployment