Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. In sequential development models, in the initial phases, testers participate in requirement reviews, test analysis, and test design. The executable code is usually created in the later phases, so dynamic testing cannot be performed early in the SDLC
b) Is not correct. Static testing can always be performed early in the SDLC
c) Is not correct. Test planning should be performed early in the SDLC before the test project begins
d) Is not correct. Acceptance testing can be performed when there is a working product. In sequential SDLC models the working product is usually delivered late in the SDLC

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. This is the task of the review leader
b) Is correct. This is the task of the management in a formal review
c) Is not correct. This is the task of the moderator
d) Is not correct. This is the task of the scribe

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. The number of defects found is related to the test object quality
b) Is not correct. This is the measure of the test efficiency not the test object quality
c) Is not correct. The number of test cases executed does not tell us anything about the quality; test results might do
d) Is correct. defect density is related to the test object quality
e) Is not correct. Time to repair is a process metric. It does not tell us anything about the product quality

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The fact that the requirement about the system’s performance comes directly from the client and that the performance is important from the business point of view (i.e., high priority) does not make these tests functional, because they do not check “what” the system does, but “how” (i.e., how fast the orders are processed)
b) Is correct. This is an example of performance testing, a type of non-functional testing
c) Is not correct. From the scenario we do not know if interacting with the user interface is a part of the test conditions. But even if we did, the main test objective of these tests is to check the performance, not the usability
d) Is not correct. We do not need to know the internal structure of the code to perform the performance testing. One can execute performance efficiency tests without structural knowledge

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Planning poker can estimate effort for a user story that is already written. It does not help in understanding what should be delivered
b) Is not correct. Reviews are not a collaborative user story writing practice
c) Is not correct. Iteration planning is a project-related practice, used to plan the work, not to understand what needs to be delivered
d) Is correct. Conversation explains how the software will be used and often allows the team to define meaningful acceptance criteria, thus obtaining a shared vision of what should be delivered

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The document does not refer to the test object’s internal structure but specifies the desired behavior of the test object. Therefore, white-box test techniques will not be helpful in designing test cases
b) Is correct. The document is a requirement that specifies the desired behavior of the test object. Therefore, the most suitable test techniques in this case are the black-box test techniques (e.g., Boundary Value Analysis or Decision Table Testing)
c) Is not correct. Although experience-based test techniques can be used to design test cases based on this document, black-box test techniques will be more suitable. The document describes a precise business rule and, in addition, wording like "exceeds $100" suggests the existence of important equivalence partition boundaries that should be tested using black-box test techniques like boundary value analysis
d) Is not correct. Risk-based test techniques are not a recognized type of test technique

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Assuming that testers could check the ease of changing the currency exchange system then it would be done by maintainability testing rather than maintenance testing, so this is not a trigger for maintenance testing
b) Is correct. A system modification (such as a fix or enhancement) is an example of a trigger for maintenance testing. The removal of the refund option of the currency exchange system was a fix that would lead to maintenance testing
c) Is not correct. If the agile team has started developing a user story that adds a new customer loyalty feature to the currency exchange system, then this will result in them testing the new feature, and then they would perform regression testing. No maintenance testing is required in this situation
d) Is not correct. Reconfiguration of the currency exchange system to support both the local language and English currency transactions is not a system modification, a change to the operational environment, or a system retirement, which are the three triggers for maintenance testing

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The organization’s marketing team is unlikely to perform much testing (although in some organizations they may be involved with acceptance testing), so their average level of experience (most of which would be in marketing) is not likely to impact how testing is performed for a given test object
b) Is not correct. The level of knowledge of users that a new system is being built for them is unlikely to affect how testing is performed. Any user involvement that could affect how testing is performed is more likely to be as a result of decisions made by the testers, customer and project manager
c) Is correct. The number of years’ experience of the members of the performance testing team will help to determine the capabilities and knowledge (e.g., of different tools and defect types) that the team members will apply when they are testing
d) Is not correct. The organizational structure of the different end users (who may be varied) will change between users. So, it may not even be known when the application is being tested, and the end user’s organizational structure can thus have little effect on how the testing is performed

Explanation / Rationale

Risk assessment can use a quantitative or qualitative approach, or a mix of them. In the quantitative approach the risk level is calculated as the multiplication of risk likelihood and risk impact. So, Risk level = Risk likelihood * Risk impact
Then, Risk impact = Risk level / Risk likelihood.
In our case, Risk impact = $1,000 / 50% = $1,000 / 0.5 = $2,000.
Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is correct
c) Is not correct
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The benefits of retrospectives include team bonding and learning from sharing issues, and better collaboration between developers and testers through reviewing and improving working practices. Calling out individuals who a team member may feel did not fully contribute to achieving quality as required by the whole-team approach will not contribute to this team bonding and collaboration
b) Is correct. During the retrospective, the group discusses what aspects of the project were successful and should be retained, as well as areas that could be improved, and how to do so
c) Is not correct. The benefits of retrospectives are based on increased effectiveness and efficiency through process improvements; they are not an opportunity to let off steam and criticize management and customers. Also, the results are recorded, usually in the test completion report, so anything said in the meeting could be read by other stakeholders
d) Is not correct. Retrospectives are meetings that are typically held at the end of an iteration where team members will focus on discussing quality-related issues that have occurred in the current iteration. They are not used for making plans or technical decisions for the next iteration; this would be done in the iteration planning meeting at the start of the next iteration

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Value “1” covers “length incorrect” and covers “number of different digits incorrect”, however the system would not validate against this partition when hitting the first incorrect partition. Value “1111” covers “length correct” and “number of different digits incorrect. Value “1234” again covers “length correct” and also “number of different digits correct”
b) Is not correct. These three values achieve full coverage of the equivalence partitions, but full coverage can be achieved with two values
c) Is not correct. These two values only cover “number of different digits
d) Is not correct. These two values does not cover “number of different digits incorrect” equivalence partition

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. ‘The capability of generating test cases without access to the test basis’ is not possible. The generation of test cases by either testers or tools requires access to the test basis
b) Is not correct. ‘The achievement of increased coverage through more objective assessment’ is not a direct benefit of test automation. Test automation will provide more objective assessment of coverage, however that objective assessment will not increase the coverage. Only by using the results of the coverage to write further test cases can the coverage possibly be increased
c) Is not correct. ‘The increase in test execution times available with higher processing power’ is a contradictory statement as higher processing power would normally reduce execution times, and increased execution times are not a benefit as the testing would take longer
d) Is correct. The prevention of human errors through greater consistency and repeatability is a benefit of test automation as test automation cannot suffer from human errors. For instance, it means that tests are consistently derived from requirements, test data is created in a systematic manner, and tests are executed by a tool in the same order with the same frequency

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The test pyramid model does not provide information about test priorities
b) Is correct. The test pyramid model shows that different tests have different levels of granularity
c) Is not correct. The test pyramid model is independent of coverage criteria
d) Is not correct. Test pyramid model does not show any relations between different tests

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. DevOps enhances testing in several ways, such as by providing fast feedback on code quality, automated regression testing that minimizes regression risk, and promoting a shift-left approach with high-quality code submission and component tests. This is largely provided through continuous integration, where the developers submit component (unit) tests with their new code, which must pass for the code to be admitted to the build. Therefore, developers do need to complete component testin
b) Is correct. DevOps enhances testing in several ways, such as by providing fast feedback on code quality, automated regression testing that minimizes regression risk, and promoting a shift-left approach with high-quality code submission and component tests
c) Is not correct. DevOps enhances testing in several ways, such as by providing fast feedback on code quality, automated regression testing that minimizes regression risk, and promoting a shift-left approach with high-quality code submission and component tests. Testers do not attempt to treat developers and operations equally by spending more time on release testing, although a shift-right approach to testing (testing in production) may well be used
d) Is not correct. Automated processes like continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) in DevOps facilitate stable test environments and reduce the need for manual testing, however, there is a risk of overlooking the importance of manual testing, especially from a user's perspective

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. This test covers two acceptance criteria: one about editing the document and one about saving changes
b) Is not correct. Acceptance criteria cover the editor activities, not the content owner activities
c) Is not correct. Scheduling the edited content for publication may be a nice feature, but it is not covered by the acceptance criteria
d) Is not correct. Acceptance criteria state about reassigning from an editor to the content owner, not to another editor

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The feedback is from stakeholders (e.g., business representative, end user), not from developers, so this feedback is not likely to inform managers which developers are more or less productive
b) Is not correct. Early and frequent feedback from stakeholders is not used by project managers to prioritize how they interact with the different stakeholders
c) Is correct. Obtaining feedback from stakeholders early and often in the software development process can be highly beneficial as it facilitates early communication of potential quality issues, can prevent misunderstandings about requirements, and ensures that any changes in stakeholder requirements are understood and implemented sooner
d) Is not correct. Early and frequent feedback can prevent the development of a product that does not meet stakeholder needs, and results in costly rework and missed deadlines, so, ideally there should be no delay. Also, the feedback is from stakeholders (not to them), which includes the end users, so the end users providing feedback will not aid the end users’ understanding

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. When a user reports a software failure, thanks to the unique identification of commits, it is possible to reassemble the files from the software version which was used by the user (as well as the corresponding versions of the test scripts) and thus reproduce the failure and locate the defect faster
b) Is not correct. If a change to the test environment causes unexpected issues during testing, configuration management allows testers to roll back to a previous version of the environment. This ensures that testing can continue without being affected by the change
c) Is not correct. Configuration management ensures that all identified documentation (e.g., requirement specifications) and software items are referenced unambiguously in test documentation (e.g., test plans)
d) Is correct. This is ensured by the defect management, not configuration management process

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a well-known example of a test-first approach to development
b) Is not correct. Coverage-Driven Development is not a correct example of a test-first approach to development
c) Is not correct. Quality-Driven Development is not a correct example of a test-first approach to development
d) Is not correct. Feature-Driven Development is not an example of a test-first approach to development, but is, instead, an agile software development methodology based around delivering features (as opposed to user stories in Scrum)

Explanation / Rationale

TC1 achieves the highest coverage (4/7 – Req1, Req3, Req4 and Req7), so should be executed first.
Req2, Req5 and Req6 are still not covered.
The next test case that achieves the highest additional coverage of the remaining requirements is TC3, covering 2 out of these 3 requirements (Req5 and Req6). So, TC3 should be executed as the second one.
Now the only requirement still not covered is Req2, which is covered by TC4. Therefore, TC4 should be executed as the third test case.
So, the last test case executed will be TC2.

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is correct
c) Is not correct
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. It is important that testers are involved from the beginning of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). It will increase understanding of design decisions and will detect defects early.
b) Is not correct. Both developers and testers will have more understanding of each other's work products and how to test the code
c) Is not correct. End users will not help the testers in increasing the quality of defect reports; also, users usually do not participate in low-level testing levels like integration testing
d) Is not correct. Being certified does not automatically mean that the tester will be better in test design

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Validating that documented requirements are met is incorrect as validation is concerned with meeting user requirements and expectations, while verification is concerned with meeting specified requirements, so this would be correct if we replaced ‘validating’ with ‘verifying’
b) Is correct. Causing failures and identifying defects is probably the most common objective of dynamic testing
c) Is not correct. Initiating errors and identifying root causes is incorrect because testers do not initiate errors, they try to cause failures. Errors are typically made by developers (and cannot really be initiated) and result in defects, which testers attempt to identify either directly through static testing or indirectly through failures with dynamic testing. Identifying root causes is useful but is part of debugging, which is a separate activity to testing
d) Is not correct. Verifying the test object meets user expectations is incorrect as verification is concerned with checking specified (documented) requirements are met, while validation is concerned with meeting user requirements and expectations, so this would be correct if we replaced ‘verifying’ with ‘validating’

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. For a complex configuration item (e.g., a test environment), CM records the items it consists of, their relationships, and versions
b) Is not correct. CM tools do not execute test cases and do not calculate coverage
c) Is not correct. A CM tool is not a license management tool
d) Is not correct. CM tools do not generate test data

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. In all types of reviews there is more than one role, even in informal ones
b) Is correct. There are several activities during the formal review process
c) Is not correct. Documentation to be reviewed should be distributed as early as possible
d) Is not correct. Defects found during the review should be reported

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Testing quadrants group test levels and test types separately according to several criteria. They do not represent any combinations of test levels and test types and they are not related to any location within a software development lifecycle. Both test levels and test types are treated separately in the testing quadrants model
b) Is not correct. Testing quadrants group test levels and test types according to several criteria. They do not describe the degree of granularity of individual test types performed at each test level. Such a model, regarding the test levels, is called the test pyramid
c) Is not correct. The statement is wrong, because in general any test type can be performed at any test level
d) Is correct. The testing quadrants group test levels, test types, activities, test techniques and work products in Agile software development. In this model, tests can be business facing or technology facing. Tests can support the team (i.e., guide the development) or critique the product (i.e., measure its behavior against expectations). The combination of these two viewpoints determines the four quadrants

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Adding this information allows the developer to use the same input data, so it is more likely they will be able to reproduce the failure quickly and so identify the defect faster
b) Is not correct. Adding the value of Priority will not help in reproducing the defect itself
c) Is not correct. Although some of this information may be of value, adding the memory dumps and database snapshots after each step will be too much, because most of these artefacts will contain useless information for the developer, and make the report less readable. It will also require the developer to spend a lot of time analyzing this information, which will lengthen the repair process
d) Is not correct. The question was about helping the developer to reproduce the defect observed for a specific environment configuration

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The test automation approach is defined by testers with the help of developers and business representatives
b) Is not correct. The test strategy is decided in collaboration with the developers
c) Is not correct. Testers, developers, and business representatives are part of the whole team approach
d) Is correct. Testers will work closely with business representatives to ensure that the desired quality levels are achieved. This includes supporting and collaborating with them to help them create suitable acceptance tests

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. This is done by the testers
b) Is not correct. The product backlog is built and maintained by the product owner
c) Is not correct. This is done by the development team
d) Is not correct. This is a managerial role
e) Is correct. This is done by the testers

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Test execution and coverage tools facilitate the automated execution of test cases and the measurement of the coverage achieved by running those test cases. However, these tools do not help with the organization of defects and configuration management
b) Is not correct. Test design and implementation tools facilitate the generation of test cases, test data and test procedures, but they do not help with the organization of defects and configuration management
c) Is not correct. Defect management tools are used to manage defects but are not testing tools and are not used to organize test cases or configuration management
d) Is correct. Test management tools increase the test process efficiency by facilitating the management of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), requirements, tests, defects, and configuration management

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Checklists should contain test conditions to be verified. This is an example of an error, not a test condition; even if the tester was able to deduce some potential test conditions from the examples of errors, this error description is too general
b) Is not correct. Checklists should not contain items that are better suited as exit criteria. This is an example of an exit criterion
c) Is not correct. Checklists should not contain items that are too general. This is a very general item, which practically describes the goal of testing
d) Is correct. This is an example of a test condition that can be checked by a human

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. QA concentrates on process improvement and implementation, using a preventive approach to avoid errors and defects, while testing is a form of QC that is used to detect defects
b) Is correct. QC aims to achieve appropriate levels of quality by focusing on identifying and correcting product defects. Testing is a significant part of QC and helps to uncover these defects
c) Is not correct. Although testing is a significant part of QC and helps to uncover defects, other (non-testing) techniques utilized in QC include formal methods like model checking and proof of correctness, as well as simulation and prototyping
d) Is not correct. QA concentrates on process improvement and implementation, using a preventive approach to avoid errors and defects, while testing is a form of QC that is used to detect defects

Explanation / Rationale

Considering each of the listed tool categories and their descriptions:

A. Static testing tools – support the tester in performing reviews and static analysis (4)
B. Tools supporting scalability and deployment standardization – For example, virtual machines, containerization tools (3)
C. DevOps tools – support the DevOps delivery pipeline, workflow tracking, automated build process(es), continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) (1)
D. Collaboration tools – facilitate communication (2)

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is not correct
c) Is correct. The correct match is: 1C, 2D, 3B, 4A
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Product quality metrics measure quality characteristics. Mean time to failure measures maturity, so it is a product quality metric
b) Is not correct. This is an example of a defect metric, not a product quality metric
c) Is not correct. This is an example of a coverage metric, not a product quality metric
d) Is not correct. This is an example of a defect metric, not a product quality metric

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Strong communication skills, active listening, and teamwork abilities enable a tester to interact effectively with all stakeholders, however a deep knowledge of a variety of computer games that allowed them to get on well with one developer is not an example of a generic skill useful to testers
b) Is correct. Domain knowledge that can be used to understand and communicate with end-users and business representatives is one of the generic skills required by testers. A tester with experience as a pilot would make them better able to appreciate the acceptance criteria for the helicopter control system
c) Is not correct. Although programming skills could be considered as technical knowledge which can increase efficiency when utilizing some test tools, it is unlikely that these skills would improve their communication with business analysts
d) Is not correct. Although thoroughness, attention to detail, curiosity, and a methodical approach to identifying hard-to-find defects are all useful generic skills for testers, it is doubtful they would be generating test cases prior to starting exploratory testing. This is because one of the main tenets of exploratory testing is that the test cases are generated during the testing, not scripted in advance

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Test environment readiness is a resource availability criterion; hence it belongs to the entry criteria
b) Is not correct. This is a resource availability criterion; hence it belongs to the entry criteria
c) Is correct. Estimated defect density is a measure of diligence; hence it belongs to the exit criteria.
d) Is not correct. Requirements translated into a given format result in testable requirements; hence it belongs to the entry criteria
e) Is correct. Automation of regression tests is a completion criterion; hence it belongs to the exit criteria

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Quality control applies to all development activities, meaning that every software development activity has a corresponding test activity. However, here we are attempting to equate test levels with development levels, and, although we know what is meant by ‘test levels’, there is no common understanding of the term ‘ development level’
b) Is not correct. Every software development activity has a corresponding test activity; however test objectives are quite different. For instance, there might be a test objective of ensuring that a test object adheres to a contractual requirement that a certain type of testing must be performed before delivery. In this case there is no reason for there to be a corresponding development objective
c) Is not correct. Quality control applies to all development activities, meaning that every software development activity has a corresponding test activity. However, the same symmetry does not apply to testing and user activities. For instance, for some systems it is difficult to even identify the end users. Also, some test activities are focused on developers (e.g., testing for ease of maintainability), which has no user aspect to it
d) Is correct. Quality control applies to all development activities, meaning that every software development activity has a corresponding test activity

Explanation / Rationale

Let us refer to the transitions with E1, …, E5 as in the picture. The variable N denotes the number of elements currently stored. Each “Add” event increases it by 1, and each “Remove” event decreases it by 1. Notice, that when the “Add” event occurs while being in the NOT FULL state, the state changes to FULL only if N=2. If N<2, the system stays in the NOT FULL state. If N=0, no “Remove” action is possible. Similarly, if N=3, no “Add” action is possible.

Test a) can be written as E1, E3, E3, E2, E4 (so covers 4 out of 5 valid transitions, achieving 80% valid transitions coverage).
Test b) is infeasible, because after the first three “Add” actions the system is in the FULL state and there is no valid transition going from FULL triggered by the “Add” event. After the first three transitions only 60% of valid transitions coverage is achieved.
Test c) can be written as E1, E2, E4, E5, E3 (so covers 5 out of 5 valid transitions, achieving 100% valid transitions coverage).
Test d) can be written as E1, E2, E4, E5, E4 (so covers 4 out of 5 valid transitions, achieving 80% valid transitions coverage).

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is not correct
c) Is correct
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. This principle means that if the same tests are repeated over and over again, eventually these tests no longer find any new defects. This is probably why the tests all passed in this release as well
b) Is not correct. This principle says about the mistaken belief that just finding and fixing a large number of defects will ensure the success of a system
c) Is not correct. This principle says that a small number of components usually contain most of the defects
d) Is not correct. This principle states that testing all combinations of inputs and preconditions is not feasible

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Adequate time for individuals is a success factor
b) Is not correct. Splitting work products into small adequate parts is a success factor
c) Is not correct. Avoiding behaviors that might indicate boredom, exasperation, etc. is a success factor
d) Is correct. During reviews one can find defects, not failures

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The approval of the budget is an example of an entry criterion. It would make no sense to approve the budget for some activity that has already been done
b) Is correct. Running out of budget can be viewed as a valid exit criterion
c) Is not correct. Availability of resources is an example of an entry criterion for testing
d) Correct. Coverage is a measure of thoroughness, so it is a typical exit criterion
e) Is not correct. This is an example of an entry criterion, checked before the project starts

Explanation / Rationale

i. Is true. Having domain knowledge is an important tester skill
ii. Is false. This is a task of the business analyst together with the business representative
iii. Is true. Being a good team player is an important skill
iv. Is false. Planning and organizing the work of the team is a task of the test manager or, mostly in an Agile software development project, the whole team and not just the tester
v. Is true. Critical thinking is one of the most important skills of testers

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is correct
c) Is not correct
d) Is not correct