alt Hacker NewsReally depends on what you're having QA folks do.
Writing automated end-to-end tests? Those are very often best done by those writing the software, with assistance from experts who know how to effectively build test infrastructure. I've very rarely seen them done effectively by QA or "test engineering" folks.
Running manual test scripts and torture testing the UI to break it in new and unusual ways? Definitely get dedicated testing / QA folks. It's very easy to be blind to how others might use the software, especially if you wrote it.
> Writing automated end-to-end tests? Those are very often best done by those writing the software
This so much - but most of the places I've worked at have insisted that manual testers with zero programming experience should build and maintain the test frameworks. Talk about trying to push a square peg into a round hole. Granted some of the testers have embraced it and not done a terrible job but by and large most of the testers have had no idea and done very little.