It's a small world after all, and no where is that more evident than in the world of software, where differences in language and desktop settings can cause applications to crash with no warning.

Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, Karl Wiegers shares some common misperceptions about requirements.

One school of thought says each should do what he's best at and no more. But one company has graduated to a new way of life. Instead of isolating testers and business analysts, the two teams are melded into one—resulting in a more robust product created in less time at a reduced cost. Could this hybrid approach work for you?

When faced with the task of testing an unfamiliar application, it's sometimes difficult to know where to begin. Discover how exploring with heuristics in mind can help you uncover bugs—even when you don't know what the system specifications are.