ISTQB Foundation Level sample test

What is quality?

Which of the following is a typical test objective?

A phone ringing momentarily distracts a programmer, causing the programmer to improperly program the logic that checks the upper boundary of an input variable. Later, during system testing, a tester notices that this input field accepts invalid input values. The improperly coded logic for the upper boundary check is:

A product owner says that your role as a tester on an Agile team is to catch all the bugs before the end of each iteration. Which of the following is a testing principle that could be used to respond to this (false) statement?

Programmers often write and execute unit tests against code which they have written. During this self-testing activity, which of the following is a tester mindset that programmers should adopt to perform this unit testing effectively?

Consider the following testing activities: 1. Selecting regression tests 2. Evaluating completeness of test execution 3. Identifying which user stories have open defect reports 4. Evaluating whether the number of tests for each requirement is consistent with the level of product risk Consider the following ways traceability can help testing: A. Improve understandability of test status reports to include status of test basis items B. Make testing auditable C. Provide information to assess process quality D. Analyze the impact of changes Which of the following best matches the testing activity with how traceability can assist that activity?

A tester participated in a discussion about proposed database structure. The tester identified a potential performance problem related to certain common user searches. This possible problem was explained to the development team. Which of the following is a testing contribution to success that BEST matches this situation?

Which of the following is an example of a task that can be carried out as part of the test process?

You are running a performance test with the objective of finding possible network bottlenecks in interfaces between components of a system. Which of the following statements describes this test?

Which of the following statements is true?

Consider the following types of defects that a test level might focus on: 1. Defects in separately testable modules or objects 2. Not focused on identifying defects 3. Defects in interfaces and interactions 4. Defects in the whole test object Which of the following list correctly matches test levels from the Foundation syllabus with the defect focus options given above?

A mass market operating system software product is designed to run on any PC hardware with an x86-family processor. You are running a set of tests to look for defects related to support of the various PCs that use such a processor and to build confidence that important PC brands will work. What type of test are you performing?

During an Agile development effort, a product owner discovers a previously-unknown regulatory requirement that applies to most of the user stories within a particular epic. The user stories are updated to provide for the necessary changes in software behavior. The programmers on the team are modifying the code appropriately. As a tester on the team, what types of tests will you run?

In a formal review, what is the role name for the participant who runs an inspection meeting?

You are reading a user story in the product backlog to prepare for a meeting with the product owner and a developer, noting potential defects as you go. Which of the following statements is true about this activity?

During a period of intensive project overtime, a system architecture document is sent to various project participants, announcing a previously-unplanned technical review to occur in one week. No adjustments are made to the participants’ list of assigned tasks. Based on this information alone, which of the following is a factor for review success that is MISSING?

You are working as a tester on an Agile team and have participated in over two dozen user story refinement sessions with the product owner and the developers on the team at the start of each iteration. As the reviews have gotten more effective at detecting defects in user stories and the product owner more adept at correcting those defects, you and the team notice that the team’s velocity, as shown in your burndown charts, has started to increase. Which of the following is a benefit of static testing that MOST DIRECTLY applies to increased velocity?

You are working on a video game development project, using Agile methods. It is based on Greek mythology and history, and players can play key roles in scenarios such as the battles between the Greeks and Trojans. Consider the following user story and its associated acceptance criteria: As a player, I want to be able to acquire the Rod of Midas (a new magic object), so that I can turn objects and other players into gold AC1: The Rod must work on any object or player, no matter what size, which can be touched anywhere by the player holding the Rod AC2: Holding the Rod does not change the player holding it into gold AC3: Any object or player touched by the Rod transforms completely into gold within one millisecond AC4: The Rod appears as shown in Prototype O.W.RoM AC5: The transformation starts at the point of contact with the Rod and moves at a rate of one meter per millisecond You are participating in a checklist-based review session of this user story. This user story and its associated acceptance criteria contain which of the following typical defects identified by static testing in this type of work product?

What is decision coverage?

Prior to an iteration planning session, you are studying a user story and its acceptance criteria, deriving test conditions and associated test cases from the user story as a way of applying the principle of early QA and test. What test technique are you applying?

Which of the following is a true statement about exploratory testing?

You are testing a mobile app that allows customers to access and manage their bank accounts. You are running a test suite that involves evaluating each screen and each field on each screen against a general list of user interface best practices, derived from a popular book on the topic, that maximize attractiveness, ease-of-use, and accessibility for such apps. Which of the following options BEST categorizes the test technique you are using?

Consider a mobile app that allows customers to access and manage their bank accounts. A user story has just been added to the set of features that checks customers’ social media accounts and bank records to give personalized greetings on birthdays and other personal milestones. Which of the following test techniques could a PROGRAMMER use during a unit test of the code to ensure that coverage of situations when the greetings ARE supposed to occur and when the greetings ARE NOT supposed to occur?

A batch application has been in production unchanged for over two years. It runs overnight once a month to produce statements that will be e-mailed to customers. For each customer, the application goes through every account and lists every transaction on that account in the last month. It uses a nested-loop structure to process customers (outer loop), each customer’s accounts (middle loop), and each account’s transactions (inner loop). One night, the batch application terminates prematurely, failing to e-mail statements to some customers, when it encounters a customer with one account for which no transactions occurred in the last month. This is a very unusual situation and has not occurred in the years since this application was placed in production. While fixing the defect, a programmer asks you to recommend test techniques that are effective against this kind of defect. Which of the following test techniques would most likely have been able to detect the underlying defect?

You are testing an unattended gasoline pump that only accepts credit cards. Once the credit card is validated, the pump nozzle placed into the tank, and the desired grade selected, the customer enters the desired amount of fuel in gallons using the keypad. The keypad only allows the entry of digits. Fuel is sold in tenths (0.1) of a gallon, up to 50.0 gallons. Which of the following is a minimum set of desired amounts that covers the equivalence partitions for this input?

You are testing an e-commerce system that sells cooking supplies such as spices, flour, and other items in bulk. The units in which the items are sold are either grams (for spices and other expensive items) or kilograms (for flour and other inexpensive items). Regardless of the units, the smallest valid order amount is 0.5 units (e.g., half a gram of cardamom pods) and the largest valid order amount is 25.0 units (e.g., 25 kilograms of sugar). The precision of the units field is 0.1 units. Which of the following is a set of input values that cover the boundary values with two-point boundary values for this field?

You are testing an e-commerce system that sells cooking supplies such as spices, flour, and other items in bulk. The units in which the items are sold are either grams (for spices and other expensive items) or kilograms (for flour and other inexpensive items). Regardless of the units, the smallest valid order amount is 0.5 units (e.g., half a gram of cardamom pods) and the largest valid order amount is 25.0 units (e.g., 25 kilograms of sugar). The precision of the units’ field is 0.1 units. Which of the following is a MINIMAL set of input values that cover the equivalence partitions for this field?

Which of the following is a common test metric often used to monitor BOTH test preparation and test execution?

Which of the following are two factors that can be used to determine the level of risk?

You are working as a project manager on an in-house banking software project. To prevent rework and excessive find/fix/retest cycles, the following process has been put in place for resolving a defect once it is found in the test lab: The assigned developer finds and fixes the defect, then creates an experimental build A peer developer reviews, unit tests, and confirmation tests the defect fix on his/her desktop A tester – usually the one who found the defect – confirmation tests the defect fix in the development environment Once a day, a new release with all confirmed defect fixes included, is installed in the test environment e) The same tester from step 3 confirmation tests the defect fix in the test environment Nevertheless, a large number of defects which the testers confirmed as fixed in the development environment (in step 3) are somehow failing confirmation testing in the test environment, with the resulting rework and cycle time outcomes. You have the highest confidence in your testers, and have ruled out mistakes or omissions in step 3. Which of the following is the MOST likely part of the process to check next?

You are engaged in planning a test effort for a new mobile banking application. As part of estimation, you first meet with the proposed testers and others on the project. The team is well-coordinated and has already worked on similar projects. To verify the resulting estimate, you then refer to some industry averages for testing effort and costs on similar projects, published by a reputable consultant. Which statement accurately describes your estimation approach?

During a project following Agile methods, you find a discrepancy between the developer’s interpretation of an acceptance criteria and the product owner’s interpretation, which you bring up during a user story refinement session. Which of the following is a benefit of test independence exemplified by this situation?

You are defining the process for carrying out product risk analysis as part of each iteration on an Agile project. Which of the following is the proper place to document this process in a test plan?

Consider the following list of undesirable outcomes that could occur on a mobile app development effort: A. Incorrect totals on reports B. Change to acceptance criteria during acceptance testing C. Users find the soft keyboard too hard to use with your app D. System responds too slowly to user input during search string entry E. Testers not allowed to report test results in daily standup meetings Which of the following properly classifies these outcomes as project and product risks?

You have just completed a pilot project for a regression testing tool. You understand the tool much better and have tailored your testing process to it. You have standardized an approach to using the tool and its associated work products. Which of the following is a typical test automation pilot project goal that remains to be carried out?

Which of the following tools is most useful for reporting test metrics?

You are working as a tester on an online banking system. Availability is considered one of the top products (quality) risks for the system. You find a reproducible failure that results in customers losing their connections to the bank Web site when transferring funds between common types of accounts and being unable to reconnect for between three and five minutes. Which of the following would be a good summary for a defect report for this failure, one that captures both the essence of the failure and its impact on stakeholders?

Which of the following provides the definition of the term test case?

Which of the following is a typical objective of testing?

Which of the following is an example of a failure in a car cruise control system?

Which of the following is a defect rather than a root cause in a fitness tracker?

As a result of risk analysis, more testing is being directed to those areas of the system under test where initial testing found more defects than average. Which of the following testing principles is being applied?

Given the following test activities and tasks: A. Test design B. Test implementation C. Test execution D. Test completion 1. Entering change requests for open defect reports 2. Identifying test data to support the test cases 3. Prioritizing test procedures and creating test data 4. Analyzing discrepancies to determine their cause Which of the following BEST matches the activities with the tasks?

Which of the following BEST describes how value is added by maintaining traceability between the test basis and test artifacts?

Which of the following qualities is MORE likely to be found in a tester’s mindset rather than in a developer’s?

Given the following statements about the relationships between software development activities and test activities in the software development lifecycle: 1. Each development activity should have a corresponding testing activity 2. Reviewing should start as soon as final versions of documents become available 3. The design and implementation of tests should start during the corresponding development activity 4. Testing activities should start in the early stages of the software development lifecycle Which of the following CORRECTLY shows which are true and false?

Given that the testing being performed has the following attributes: • Based on interface specifications • Focused on finding failures in communication • The test approach uses both functional and structural test types Which of the following test levels is MOST likely being performed?

Which of the following statements about test types and test levels is CORRECT?

Which of the following statements BEST compares the purposes of confirmation testing and regression testing?

Which of the following statements CORRECTLY describes a role of impact analysis in Maintenance Testing?

Which of the following statements CORRECTLY reflects the value of static testing?

Which of the following statements on the use of checklists in a formal review is CORRECT?

Which of the following CORRECTLY matches the roles and responsibilities in a formal review?

The reviews being used in your organization have the following attributes: • There is a role of a scribe • The purpose is to detect potential defects • The review meeting is led by the author • Reviewers find potential defects by individual review • A review report is produced Which of the following review types is MOST likely being used?

You have been asked to take part in a checklist-based review of the following excerpt from the requirements specification for a library system: Librarians can: 1. Register new borrowers 2. Return books from borrowers 3. Accept fines from borrowers 4. Add new books to the system with their ISBN, author and title 5. Remove books from the system 6. Get system responses within 5 seconds Borrowers can: 7. Borrow a maximum of 3 books at one time 8. View the history of books they have borrowed/reserved 9. Be fined for failing to return a book within 3 weeks 10. Get system responses within 3 seconds 11. Borrow a book at no cost for a maximum of 4 weeks 12. Reserve books (if they are on-loan) All users (librarians and borrowers): 13. Can search for books by ISBN, author, or title 14. Can browse the system catalogue 15. The system shall respond to user requests within 3 seconds 16. The user interface shall be easy-to-use You have been assigned the checklist entry that requires you to review the specification for inconsistencies between individual requirements (i.e. Conflicts between requirements). Which of the following CORRECTLY identifies inconsistencies between pairs of requirements?

Which of the following provides the BEST description of exploratory testing?

Which of the following BEST matches the descriptions with the different categories of test techniques? 1. Coverage is measured based on a selected structure of the test object 2. The processing within the test object is checked 3. Tests are based on defects’ likelihood and their distribution 4. Deviations from the requirements are checked 5. User stories are used as the test basis Using notation for the following 4 options: Black - Black-box test techniques White - White-box test techniques Experience - Experience-based test techniques

A fitness app measures the number of steps that are walked each day and provides feedback to encourage the user to keep fit. The feedback for different numbers of steps should be: Up to 1000 - Couch Potato! Above 1000, up to 2000 - Lazy Bones! Above 2000, up to 4000 - Getting There! Above 4000, up to 6000 - Not Bad! Above 6000 - Way to Go! Which of the following sets of test inputs would achieve the BEST equivalence partition coverage?

A smart home app measures the average temperature in the house over the previous week and provides feedback to the occupants on their environmental friendliness based on this temperature. The feedback for different average temperature ranges (to the nearest °C) should be: Up to 10°C - Icy Cool! 11°C to 15°C - Chilled Out! 16°C to 19°C - Cool Man! 20°C to 22°C - Too Warm! Above 22°C - Hot & Sweaty! Using BVA (only Min- and Max values), which of the following sets of test inputs provides the highest level of boundary coverage?

Which of the following statements BEST describes how test cases are derived from a use case?

Which of the following descriptions of statement coverage is CORRECT?

Which of the following descriptions of decision coverage is CORRECT?

Which of the following BEST describes the concept behind error guessing?

Which of the following BEST explains a benefit of independent testing?

Which of the following tasks is MOST LIKELY to be performed by the test manager?

Given the following examples of entry and exit criteria: 1. The original testing budget of $30,000 plus contingency of $7,000 has been spent 2. 96% of planned tests for the drawing package have been executed and the remaining tests are now out of scope 3. The trading performance test environment has been designed, set-up and verified 4. Current status is no outstanding critical defects and two high-priority ones 5. The autopilot design specifications have been reviewed and reworked 6. The tax rate calculation component has passed unit testing. Which of the following BEST categorizes them as entry and exit criteria:

Which of the following statements about test estimation approaches is CORRECT?

Which of the following BEST defines risk level?

Which of the following is MOST likely to be an example of a PRODUCT risk?

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be an example of product risk analysis CORRECTLY influencing the testing?

You are performing system testing of a train reservation system. Based on the test cases performed, you have noticed that the system occasionally reports that no trains are available, although this should actually be the case. You have provided the developers with a summary of the defect and the version of the tested system. They recognize the urgency of the defect and are now waiting for you to provide further details. In addition to the information already provided, the following additional information is given: 1. Degree of impact (severity) of the defect 2. Identification of the test item 3. Details of the test environment 4. Urgency/priority to fix 5. Actual results 6. Reference to test case specification Which of this information is most useful to include in the defect report?

Given the following test activities and test tools: 1. Performance measurement and dynamic analysis 2. Test execution and logging 3. Management of testing and testware 4. Test design A. Requirements coverage tools B. Dynamic analysis tools C. Test data preparation tools D. Defect management tools Which of the following BEST matches the activities and tools?

Which of the following is MOST likely to be used as a reason for using a pilot project to introduce a tool into an organization?

Which one of the following answers describes a test condition?

Which of the following statements is a valid objective for testing?

Which of the following statements correctly describes the difference between testing and debugging?

Which one of the statements below describes the most common situation for a failure discovered during testing or in production?

Mr. Test has been testing software applications on mobile devices for a period of 5 years. He has a wealth of experience in testing mobile applications and achieves better results in a shorter time than others. Over several months, Mr. Test did not modify the existing automated test cases and did not create any new test cases. This leads to fewer and fewer defects being found by executing the tests. What principle of testing did Mr. Test not observe?

In what way can testing be part of Quality Assurance?

Which of the following activities is part of the main activity "test analysis" in the test process?

Match the following test work products (1-4) with the right description (A-D). 1. Test suite 2. Test case 3. Test script 4. Test charter A. A set of test scripts to be executed in a specific test run B. A set of instructions for the execution of a test C. Contains expected results D. Documentation of test activities in session-based exploratory testing

How can white-box testing be applied during acceptance testing?

Which of the following statements comparing component testing and system testing is TRUE?

Which one of the following is TRUE?

Which one of the following is the BEST definition of an incremental development model?

Which of the following should NOT be a trigger for maintenance testing?

Which of the following options are roles in a formal review?

Which activities are carried out within the planning of a formal review?

Which of the review types below is the BEST option to choose when the review must follow a formal process based on rules and checklists?

Which of the following statements about static testing are MOST true?

You will be invited to a review. The work product to be reviewed is a description of the in-house document creation process. The aim of the description is to present the work distribution between the different roles involved in the process in a way that can be clearly understood by everyone. You will be invited to a checklist-based review. The checklist will also be sent to you. It includes the following points: I. Is the person who performs the activity clearly identified for each activity? ii. Are the entry criteria clearly defined for each activity? iii. Are the exit criteria clearly defined for each activity? iv. Are the supporting roles and their scope of work clearly defined for each activity? In the following we show an excerpt of the work result to be reviewed, for which you should use the checklist above: "After checking the customer documentation for completeness and correctness, the software architect creates the system specification. Once the software architect has completed the system specification, he invites testers and verifiers to the review. A checklist describes the scope of the review. Each invited reviewer creates review comments - if necessary - and concludes the review with an official review done-comment." Which of the following statements about your review is correct?

What is checklist-based testing?

Which one of the following options is categorized as a black-box test technique?