During software project development, what is the primary role of the Quality Assurance (QA) function?

Introduction / Context:
Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) are often confused, but they play different roles in software development. QA is primarily concerned with the processes used to develop and maintain software, while QC focuses on checking the finished product. Understanding the role of QA helps ensure that quality is not just inspected in at the end but built in from the beginning.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The project follows a defined lifecycle with phases such as requirements, design, implementation, testing and deployment.
QA is a separate function or role that supports the project rather than writing production code itself.
The organization wants to improve consistency and predictability of quality across multiple projects.

Concept / Approach:
QA is process oriented. Its main responsibility is to design and maintain a quality management system that includes standards, procedures, templates and checklists. QA also conducts process audits and monitors compliance to ensure that teams are following agreed practices. By doing so, QA helps prevent defects rather than only detecting them. Review and audit results feed into process improvement initiatives.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Identify which option describes activities such as defining processes, planning quality assurance activities and performing audits. Recognize that writing production code is a developer responsibility, not the core mission of QA. Notice that only executing manual tests at the end belongs more to QC or test execution, not to QA. See that infrastructure management is an operations or administration function, not QA. Option a matches the well known definition of QA as ensuring that appropriate processes are in place and improved over time.

Verification / Alternative check:
Quality management frameworks and standards such as ISO 9001 emphasize process definition, documentation and continuous improvement as QA responsibilities. Software process models similarly assign QA activities to activities like process compliance, metrics gathering and improvement proposals rather than to direct coding or system administration.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option b incorrectly assigns feature development to QA, which blurs the separation of responsibilities and could compromise independence.
Option c restricts QA to late stage manual testing, which is closer to QC and ignores early phase prevention activities.
Option d moves QA into facilities management, which has little to do with software product quality.

Common Pitfalls:
Some organizations label their testing team as "QA" even if the team performs mainly test execution. This can cause confusion about expectations. A healthy setup has QA focusing on processes and governance, while QC and testing teams verify the product. Collaboration between these roles ensures both prevention and detection of defects.

Final Answer:
The primary role of QA in project development is to define, monitor and improve processes so that quality is built into the lifecycle, including planning, reviews and audits.