Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Traceability is the relationship between two or more work products, not between different versions of the same work product
b) Is not correct. Maintenance testing is about testing changes; it is not related closely to versioning
c) Is correct. To support testing, configuration management may involve the version control of all test items
d) Is not correct. Requirements engineering is the elicitation, documentation, and management of requirements; it is not closely related to test script versioning

Explanation / Rationale
a) Is not correct. Retrospectives are used to capture lessons learned and to improve the development and testing process, not to document the acceptance criteria
b) Is correct. This is the standard way to document acceptance criteria
c) Is not correct. Verbal communication does not allow to physically document the acceptance criteria as part of a user story (”card” aspect in the 3C’s model)
d) Is not correct. Acceptance criteria are related to a user story, not a test plan. Also, acceptance criteria are the conditions that have to be fulfilled to decide if the user story is complete. Risks are not such conditions

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. In this case one test case is still needed since there is at least one (unconditional) branch to be covered
b) Is not correct. Covering only unconditional branches does not imply covering all conditional branches
c) Is not correct. 100% branch coverage implies 100% statement coverage, not otherwise. For example, for an IF decision without the ELSE, one test is enough to achieve 100% statement coverage, but it only achieves 50% branch coverage
d) Is correct. Each decision outcome corresponds to a conditional branch, so 100% branch coverage implies 100% decision coverage

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

The equivalence partitions are: {…, 99, 100}, {101, 102, …, 198, 199}, {200, 201, …}.
Thus, there are 4 boundary values, which are: 100, 101, 199 and 200.
In 2-value BVA, for each boundary value there are two coverage items (the boundary value and its closest neighbor belonging to the adjacent partition). As the closest neighbors are also boundary values in the adjacent partition, then there are just four coverage items.

Thus:
a) Is not correct. Only 100 and 200 are valid coverage items for 2-value BVA, so we achieve 50% coverage
b) Is not correct. Only 100 and 200 are valid coverage items for 2-value BVA, so we achieve 50% coverage
c) Is not correct. Only 100 and 101 are valid coverage items for 2-value BVA, so we achieve 50% coverage
d) Is correct. 101, 199 and 200 are valid coverage items for 2-value BVA, so we achieve 75% coverage

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Impediments to testing can be high level and business-related, so this is an important piece of information for business stakeholders
b) Is correct. Branch testing is a technical metric used by developers and technical testers. This information is of no interest to business representatives
c) Is not correct. Test progress is project related, so it may be useful for business representatives
d) Is not correct. Risks impact product quality, so it may be useful for business representatives

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. This should be a team activity and not overruled by one team member
b) Is correct. If test estimates are not the same, but the variation in the results is small, applying rules like “accept the number with the most votes” can be applied
c) Is not correct. There is no consensus yet as some say 13, others say 8
d) Is not correct. A feature should not be removed only because the team cannot agree on the test estimates

Explanation / Rationale

“Small garden” and “large garden” can go only with “ground floor”, so we need two test cases with “ground floor” which cover these two “garden type” partitions.
We need two more test cases to cover the two other “floor” partitions and a remaining ”garden type” partition of “no garden”.
We need a total of four test cases:

TC1 (ground floor, small garden)
TC2 (ground floor, large garden)
TC3 (first floor, no garden)
TC4 (second or higher floor, no garden)

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

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. Test progress reports are mostly used during test monitoring and control, and test completion, not during test design
b) Is correct. A test completion report is prepared during test completion, when a project, test level, or test type is complete and when, ideally, its exit criteria have been met. This report uses information from test progress reports and other data
c) Is not correct. Test progress reports are mostly used during test monitoring and control, and test completion, not during test analysis
d) Is not correct. Test progress reports are most used during test monitoring and control, and test completion, not during test planning

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Obtaining feedback from stakeholders early and often in the software development process can be highly beneficial. 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
b) Is not correct. The feedback is from stakeholders, and them providing feedback is unlikely to improve their understanding of their own user requirements
c) Is not correct. Obtaining feedback from stakeholders early and often in the software development process can be highly beneficial. 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. However, because changes in requirements can be understood and implemented sooner, it does not mean that unlimited changes to requirements are encouraged
d) Is not correct. The feedback is from stakeholders and does not cover communication to them. Communications to end users could include them being told about which requirements will not be implemented prior to release, but ideally this should not happen at all

Explanation / Rationale

“test” and “error” transitions cannot occur in one test case.
Neither can both “done” transitions.
This means we need at least three test cases to achieve transition coverage. For example:

TC1: test, done
TC2: run, error, done
TC3: run, pause, resume, pause, done

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

Explanation / Rationale

Branch testing is a white-box test technique in which the coverage items are branches. A branch is a transfer of control between two nodes in the control flow graph, which shows the possible sequences in which source code statements are executed in the test object. Each transfer of control can be either unconditional (i.e., straight-line code) or conditional (i.e., a decision outcome). Coverage is measured as the number of branches exercised by the test cases divided by the total number of branches, and is expressed as a percentage.
Thus:
a) Is not correct. A decision outcome is a conditional branch. For branch testing, X counts not only conditional, but also unconditional branches
b) Is not correct. Branch coverage counts not only conditional, but also unconditional branches
c) Is correct. Branch coverage is measured as the number of branches exercised by the test cases divided by the total number of branches, and is expressed as a percentage
d) Is not correct. Both X and Y count only conditional branches and do not take into account the unconditional branches

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. Checking that the sort function puts the elements of the list or array in ascending order is evaluating the functional correctness of the sort function, which is part of functional testing
b) Is not correct. Assessing whether the sort function meets its non-functional requirement to complete within one second is part of testing its performance efficiency, which is part of non-functional testing
c) Is not correct. Evaluating the ease with which the sort function can be modified from sorting ascending to sorting descending is testing its modifiability, a form of non-functional maintainability testing, which is part of non-functional testing
d) Is not correct. Assessing that the sort function still functions correctly when moved from a 32-bit to a 64-bit architecture is testing its adaptability, a form of portability testing, which is part of non-functional testing

Explanation / Rationale

Test cases TC1, TC2, TC3 and TC4 cover, respectively, rules R2, R3, R7 and R6 in the decision table.
a) Is correct. The conditions “66-year-old”, “unregistered” and “no experience” match rule R4, which is not covered by the existing test cases, so after adding this test case, the decision table coverage will increase
b) Is not correct. The conditions “55-year-old”, “unregistered” and “2 years of experience” match rule R2, already covered by TC1. So adding this test case will not increase the coverage
c) Is not correct. The conditions “19-year-old”, “registered” and “5 years of experience” match rule R6, already covered by TC4. So adding this test case will not increase the coverage
d) Is not correct. The existing test cases cover only 4 out of 7 columns of the decision table. The coverage can be increased by adding test cases that cover yet uncovered columns, that is, R1, R4 and R5

Explanation / Rationale

Error guessing is about anticipating the errors, defects and failures based on the tester’s knowledge.
a) Is not correct. This is an example of anticipating the developer’s error
b) Is not correct. This is an example of anticipating the defect
c) Is correct. This is an example of a potential root cause of a defect, which is neither an error, defect nor failure, and difficult for the tester to anticipate
d) Is not correct. This is an example of anticipating a failure, perhaps based on experience of previous systems in this application domain

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. Estimating the test effort is part of test planning
b) Is correct. This is an example of defining test conditions which is a part of test analysis
c) Is not correct. Using test techniques to derive coverage items is a part of test design
d) Is not correct. Reporting defects found during dynamic testing is a part of test execution

Explanation / Rationale

Considering each of the listed review types:

1. Technical review - This type of review is performed by technically qualified reviewers and led by a moderator. The objectives are to gain consensus and make decisions on technical problems while also evaluating quality and building confidence in the work product, generating new ideas, motivating and enabling authors to improve, and detecting anomalies
2. Informal review - The main objective is to detect anomalies. The process is not defined and does not require formal documented output
3. Inspection - This is the most formal review type, and it follows the complete generic review process. The primary objective is to find the most anomalies, and other objectives include evaluating quality and building confidence in the work product, motivating and enabling authors to improve, and collecting metrics that can be used to enhance the software development life cycle (SDLC), including the inspection process. The author cannot act as the review leader or scribe
4. Walkthrough - Led by the author, this type of review serves various objectives such as evaluating quality and building confidence in the work product, educating reviewers, gaining consensus, generating new ideas, motivating and enabling authors to improve, and detecting anomalies. Reviewers might perform an individual review before the walkthrough, but this is not mandatory

A. Includes objectives such as gaining consensus, generating new ideas, and motivating authors to improve (A)
B. The main objective is detecting potential defects and it generates no formal documented output (D)
C. The main objective is detecting potential defects and it requires metrics collection to support process improvement (C)
D. Includes objectives such as educating reviewers, gaining consensus, generating new ideas and detecting potential defects (B)

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

Explanation / Rationale

Consider:

i. Is true. Faster product release and faster time to market is an advantage of DevOps
ii. Is false. Typically, we need less effort for manual tests because of the use of test automation
iii. Is true. Constant availability of executable software is an advantage
iv. Is false. More regression tests are needed
v. Is false. Not everything is automated and setting up a test automation framework is expensive

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

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. The basic concept behind error guessing is that the tester tries to guess what errors may have been made by the developer and what defects may be in the test object based on past experience (and sometimes checklists)
b) Is not correct. Although a testers who used to be a developer may use their personal experience to help them when performing error guessing, the test technique is not based on prior knowledge of development
c) Is not correct. Error guessing is not a usability technique for guessing how users may fail to interact with the test object
d) Is not correct. Duplicating the development task has several flaws that make it impractical, such as the tester having equivalent skills to the developer and the time involved to perform the development. It is not error guessing

Explanation / Rationale

Considering each of the listed example defects:

i. Two different parts of the design specification disagree due to the complexity of the design – this is an example of a specification defect, which includes inconsistencies, ambiguities, contradictions, omissions, inaccuracies, and duplications, which can most easily be found by static testing
ii. A response time is too long and so makes users lose patience – this is an example of a response time defect, which can only be detected in practice by executing the program and measuring the response time, which can most easily be found by dynamic testing
iii. A path in the code cannot be reached during execution - this is an example of a coding defect, which includes variables with undefined values, undeclared variables, duplicated or unreachable code, and excessive code complexity, which can most easily be found by static testing
iv. A variable is declared but never subsequently used in the program - this is an example of a coding defect, which includes variables with undefined values, undeclared variables, duplicated or unreachable code, and excessive code complexity, which can most easily be found by static testing
v. The amount of memory needed by the program to generate a report is too high – this is an example of a performance defect, which can only be detected in practice by executing the program and measuring the memory used, which can most easily be found by dynamic testing

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is not correct
c) Is not correct
d) Is correct. The correct match for static testing is i, iii, and iv

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. In the whole-team approach, testers play a vital role by sharing their testing expertise with the team and guiding product development. They collaborate with other team members to achieve the desired quality levels and work with business representatives to create acceptance tests. Testers also partner with developers to determine the optimal test strategy and automation approaches
b) Is correct. By leveraging the diverse skill sets of each team member most effectively, the whole-team approach fosters superior team dynamics, promotes robust communication and collaboration, and generates a synergistic effect that benefits the entire project
c) Is not correct. The whole-team approach allows any team member with the requisite skills and knowledge to undertake any task, thus specialist team members are not an advantage of this approach
d) Is not correct. There is no specific guidance on the optimum size of teams using the whole-team approach, and there is no suggestion that larger teams are better

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. It is more often used in behavior-driven development (BDD)
b) Is not correct. It is the description of test-driven development (TDD)
c) Is correct. In acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) tests are written from acceptance criteria as part of the design process
d) Is not correct. It is used in BDD

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The testing role is primarily responsible for the technical and engineering aspects of testing, such as test analysis, test design, test implementation, and test execution. Evaluating the test basis for defects and the test object for testability are tasks performed as part of test analysis, so it is likely they are tasks performed by the testing role
b) Is not correct. The testing role is primarily responsible for the technical and engineering aspects of testing, such as test analysis, test design, test implementation, and test execution. Defining the test environment requirements is a task performed as part of test design, so it is likely to be a task performed by the testing role
c) Is not correct. The testing role is primarily responsible for the technical and engineering aspects of testing, such as test analysis, test design, test implementation, and test execution. Assessing the testability of a test object is a task performed as part of test analysis, so it is likely to be a task performed by the testing role
d) Is correct. The test management role primarily involves activities related to test planning, test monitoring and control, and test completion. Thus, creating the test completion report, which is the prime output from the test completion activity, is likely to be a task performed by the test management role

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Retrospectives are more useful for identifying improvement opportunities and have little importance for clients
b) Is not correct. Business representatives are not giving feedback about the product itself. Therefore, there is no financial gain to the organization
c) Is correct. Regularly conducted retrospectives, when appropriate follow up activities occur, are critical to continual improvement of development and testing
d) Is not correct. Courage and respect are values of Extreme Programming and are not closely related to retrospectives

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 not correct. Finding and fixing defects in the test object is not a typical test objective as although identifying defects is an objective of testing, fixing defects is not a testing activity
b) Is not correct. Maintaining effective communications with developers is not a typical test objective as although it is useful in achieving other objectives of testing, such as providing stakeholders with information that enables them to make informed decisions, it is not a primary reason for performing testing
c) Is not correct. Validating that legal requirements have been met is not a typical test objective because validation is concerned with checking whether the system meets users’ and other stakeholders’ needs in its operational environment. Checking that legal requirements have been met is a form of verification
d) Is correct. Building confidence in the quality of the test object is achieved by executing tests that pass

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. 19 covers the “no discount” partition, 20 covers the “50% discount” partition, and 30 covers the “10% discount” partition. These three values cover all three of the valid equivalence partitions
b) Is not correct. 11 and 12 cover the “no discount” partition, while 20 covers the “50% discount” partition, so covering two of the three valid equivalence partitions
c) Is not correct. 1 covers the “no discount” partition, while 10 and 50 cover the “10% discount” partition. The “50% discount” partition is not covered, so overall two of the three valid equivalence partitions are covered
d) Is not correct. 29 and 31 cover the “no discount” partition, while 10 and 30 cover the “10% discount” partition. The “50% discount” partition is not covered, so overall two of the three valid equivalence partitions are covered

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The expected result is “the application should accept the provided input and create the user”. The actual result is “The application hangs up after entering “Test input. $ä””.
b) Is not correct. There is a reference to the test case and to the related requirement and it states that the defect is rejected. Also, the defect status would not be very helpful for the developers
c) Is correct. We do not know in which test environment the anomaly was detected, and we also do not know which application (and its version) is affected
d) Is not correct. The defect report states that the anomaly is urgent, that it is a global issue (i.e., many, if not all, test administration accounts are affected) and states the impact is high for business stakeholders

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

There are three equivalence partitions: {…, –2, –1}, {0, 1, 2}, {3, 4, …}.
For 2-value BVA all the boundary values for all the equivalence partitions must be covered.
The boundary values are –1 (for the “temperature too low” partition), 0, 2 (for the “temperature OK” partition) and 3 (for the “temperature too high” partition).

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is not correct
c) Is correct. The correct option is: –1, 0, 2, 3
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. The root cause is the distraction that the programmer experienced while programming
b) Is not correct. Accepting invalid inputs is a failure
c) Is not correct. The error is the mistaken thinking that resulted in putting the defect in the code
d) Is correct. The problem in the code is a defect

Explanation / Rationale

Considering each of the listed tool categories:

i. Collaboration tools – facilitate communication. Communication does not include the facilitation of test execution
ii. DevOps tools - support the DevOps delivery pipeline, workflow tracking, automated build process(es) and CI/CD. The delivery pipeline and CI/CD both include the facilitation of test execution, such as component testing for CI
iii. Management tools – increase the test process efficiency by facilitating management of the SDLC, requirements, tests, defects and configuration. The management of these items does not include the facilitation of test execution
iv. Non-functional testing tools – allow the tester to perform non-functional testing that is difficult or impossible to perform manually. Non-functional testing can include both static testing and dynamic testing, including test execution
v. Test design and implementation tools – facilitate generation of test cases, test data and test procedures. The generation of this testware does not include the facilitation of test execution

Thus:
a) Is not correct
b) Is correct. Both DevOps tools (ii) and Non-functional testing tools (iv) facilitate test execution
c) Is not correct
d) Is not correct

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is not correct. Practices involved in shift-left testing are aimed at implementing more testing activities in the early phases of the development life cycle, portraying the SDLC as moving from left to right. There is no such thing as the left-hand side of the test process
b) Is correct. Shift-left emphasizes the importance of starting testing earlier in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Implementing shift-left testing necessitates additional training, and increased effort and costs during the early stages of the SDLC, nevertheless, overall savings should be higher
c) Is not correct. Although automated component tests and component integration tests for regression testing are generally valuable, the creation of these tests is normally the responsibility of the developers, and if a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) approach is followed, then these tests will have been submitted with the code. In some situations the tester may automate tests for regression testing, and sometimes even for component tests and component integration tests, however this is not part of a ‘shift-left’ approach which moves testing earlier in the SDLC
d) Is not correct. Training testers to perform tasks early in the SDLC would support a shift-left approach by emphasizing the importance of starting testing earlier in the SDLC. However, automating more test activities to be performed later in the SDLC is not part of a ‘shift-left’ approach

Explanation / Rationale

Consider:

i. It is a Project risk
ii. It is a Product risk
iii. It is a Product risk
iv. It is a Project risk
v. It is a Product risk

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

Explanation / Rationale

a) Is correct. The whole team approach promotes robust communication and collaboration between the team members
b) Is not correct. While the whole team approach prioritizes collective accountability for quality, each individual team member is still equally accountable for quality
c) Is not correct. The whole team approach is about how the team works together, with the aim of higher quality deliverables, but it does not necessarily result in faster deployment to end users
d) Is not correct. When using the whole team approach, testers work with business representatives to create acceptance tests. There is no suggestion that the approach will reduce collaboration with external business users

Explanation / Rationale

Considering:

• Usability testing is in Q3 (1 – C)
• Component testing is in Q1 (2 – A)
• Functional testing is in Q2 (3 – B)
• Reliability testing is in Q4 (4 – D)

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

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

Exploratory testing is useful when there are few or inadequate specifications or there is significant time pressure on the testing. Exploratory testing is also useful to complement other more formal test techniques. Exploratory testing will be more effective if the tester is experienced, has domain knowledge and has a high degree of essential skills, like analytical skills, curiosity and creativeness.

Thus:
a) Is correct. Exploratory testing is useful when there are few or inadequate specifications or there is significant time pressure on the testing
b) Is not correct. Exploratory testing is not a black-box test technique
c) Is not correct. Exploratory testing is useful when the specifications are poorly written
d) Is not correct. Programming skills have nothing to do with exploratory testing in principle
e) Is correct. Exploratory testing will be more effective if the tester is experienced, has domain knowledge and has a high degree of essential skills, like analytical skills, curiosity and creativeness