Quantum software testing introduces new challenges that differ fundamentally from those in classical software engineering. Aims: This study investigates how the quantum software industry defines testing roles and what skills are expected from professionals in these positions. Method: We analyzed 110 job postings from organizations involved in quantum software and hardware development, identifying activities, competencies, and skill requirements related to testing. Results: The findings show that testing in quantum contexts combines traditional software quality assurance with experimental validation, emphasizing calibration, control, and hybrid quantum-classical verification. Employers seek professionals who integrate programming and automation expertise with quantum-specific technical knowledge and interdisciplinary collaboration skills. Conclusions: Quantum software testing remains at an early but rapidly evolving stage that bridges software engineering and experimental physics, highlighting the need for educational and research efforts that align testing practices with industrial realities.
Quantum software testing introduces new challenges that differ fundamentally from those in classical software engineering. Aims: This study investigates how the quantum software industry defines testing roles and what skills are expected from professionals in these positions. Method: We analyzed 110 job postings from organizations involved in quantum software and hardware development, identifying activities, competencies, and skill requirements related to testing. Results: The findings show that testing in quantum contexts combines traditional software quality assurance with experimental validation, emphasizing calibration, control, and hybrid quantum-classical verification. Employers seek professionals who integrate programming and automation expertise with quantum-specific technical knowledge and interdisciplinary collaboration skills. Conclusions: Quantum software testing remains at an early but rapidly evolving stage that bridges software engineering and experimental physics, highlighting the need for educational and research efforts that align testing practices with industrial realities.
Context: Quantum software development is a complex and intricate process that diverges significantly from traditional software development. Quantum computing and quantum software are deeply entangled with quantum mechanics, which introduces a different level of abstraction and a deep dependence on quantum physical properties. The classical requirements engineering methods must be adapted to encompass the essential quantum features in this new paradigm. Aim: This study aims to systematically identify and analyze challenges, opportunities, developments, and new lines of research in requirements engineering for quantum computing. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review, including three research questions. This study included 105 papers published from 2017 to 2024. Results: The main results include the identification of problems associated with defining specific requirements for quantum software and hybrid system requirements. In addition, we identified challenges related to the absence of standards for quantum requirements engineering. Finally, we can see the advances in developing programming languages and simulation tools for developing software in hybrid systems. Conclusions: This study presents the challenges and opportunities in quantum computing requirements engineering, emphasizing the need for new methodologies and tools. It proposes a roadmap for future research to develop a standardized framework, contributing to theoretical foundations and practical applications.
This paper presents preliminary findings from a multivocal literature review investigating how quantum software testing is characterized across academic and practitioner-oriented sources. Our study integrated peer-reviewed studies with gray literature, including blogs, tutorials, forums, technical reports, documentation pages, and company webpages. Our results indicate a rapidly evolving but fragmented ecosystem involving classical adapted testing approaches, quantum-specific techniques, statistical validation methods, simulators, debugging environments, and verification frameworks. The reviewed material also revealed recurring challenges related to scalability limitations, hardware noise, probabilistic execution, limited observability, and immature tooling ecosystems. These findings provide an initial characterization of how research and practice currently discuss quantum software testing challenges, techniques, and tooling.
The quantum computing (QC) field is rapidly moving beyond the realm of pure science to become a commercially viable technology that may be able to overcome the drawbacks of traditional computing. Major technology tycoons have spent in building coding frameworks and hardware to create applications specifically designed for quantum computing over the last few years. The development of QC hardware is accelerating, however, the requirement for software-intensive methodology, approaches, procedures, instruments, roles and responsibilities for creating industrial-focused quantum software applications arises from operationalizing the QC. This paper outlines the concept of quantum software engineering (QSE) life cycle, which entails the engineering of quantum requirements, design, implementation, testing and maintenance of quantum software. This paper notably advocates for collaborative efforts between the industrial community and software engineering research to propose practical solutions to support the complete activities for the development of quantum software. The proposed vision makes it easier for researchers and practitioners to suggest new procedures, reference designs, cutting-edge equipment, and methods for utilizing quantum computers and creating the newest and most advanced quantum software.
Despite the increasing interest in quantum computing, the aspect of development to achieve cost-effective and reliable quantum software applications has been slow. One barrier is the software engineering of quantum programs, which can be approached from two directions. On the one hand, many software engineering practices, debugging in particular, are bound to classical computing. On the other hand, quantum programming is closely associated with the phenomena of quantum physics, and consequently, the way we express programs resembles the early days of programming. Moreover, much of the software engineering research today focuses on agile development, where computing cycles are cheap and new software can be rapidly deployed and tested, whereas in the quantum context, executions may consume lots of energy, and test runs may require lots of work to interpret. In this paper, we aim at bridging this gap by starting with the quantum computing workflow and by mapping existing software engineering research to this workflow. Based on the mapping, we then identify directions for software engineering research for quantum computing.
Quantum computing is rapidly emerging as a transformative force poised to redefine the foundations of software engineering. By leveraging quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition, entanglement, and interference, quantum computers offer the potential to solve complex problems far beyond the reach of classical systems. This paper explores the multifaceted impact of quantum computing on software engineering, focusing on key areas including quantum algorithms, cryptography, programming paradigms, and application domains. It examines how quantum algorithms like Shor's and Grover's promise significant computational speedups, threatening classical encryption schemes and prompting the rise of post-quantum cryptography. The paper also analyzes the challenges of quantum programming, including steep learning curves, limited hardware access, and the need for new development tools and testing frameworks. These challenges highlight the current limitations of quantum technology, such as hardware instability and scalability issues. As quantum hardware evolves, the integration of hybrid quantum-classical systems is identified as a practical approach for near-term applications in areas such as drug discovery, finance, and optimization. The paper further discusses ethical considerations, such as equitable access to quantum resources and privacy concerns, alongside potential societal impacts to ensure responsible innovation. It underscores the need for future advancements in education, standardization, and hybrid systems to bridge the gap between current limitations and quantum computing’s potential. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of educational reform, standardization, and ethical considerations in preparing the software engineering community for a quantum-driven future.
As quantum computing transitions from a theoretical domain to a practical technology, many aspects of established practice in software engineering are being faced with new challenges. Quantum Software Engineering has been developed to address the peculiar needs that arise with quantum systems’ dependable, scalable, and fault-tolerant software development. The present paper critically reviews how traditional software engineering methodologies can be reshaped to fit into the quantum field. This also entails providing some critical contributions: frameworks to integrate classical and quantum systems, new error mitigation techniques, and the development of quantum-specific testing and debugging tools. In this respect, best practices have been recommended to ensure that future quantum software can harness the evolving capabilities of quantum hardware with continued performance, reliability, and scalability. The work is supposed to act as a foundational guide for the researcher and developer as quantum computing approaches widespread scientific and industrial adoption.