iSQI CTAL-ATT Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester Exam Practice Test

In Agile development, requirements engineering techniques are crucial for understanding and defining user needs and system requirements. The issues identified in the user story suggest the use of Personas and Storyboards. Personas are fictional characters created based on user research to represent different user types within a targeted demographic, attitude, and behavior set. They help in understanding various user needs and experiences, which is reflected in issue 1 and 2. Storyboards, on the other hand, are visual representations of a user’s interaction with the product, providing a narrative of how the product is used. They help in visualizing the process and identifying any missing elements, such as the lack of specified acceptance criteria for the booking process speed (issue 3) and the details on how confirmation is sent (issue 4). The need for a stub to test the payment method (issue 5) also aligns with the storyboard technique, which can help visualize the integration points and dependencies.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus and study resources provide insights into various requirements engineering techniques and their application in Agile environments12. These resources emphasize the importance of understanding user stories and acceptance criteria, which are key to uncovering the issues mentioned34567.

 For a Medium risk mission- or safety-critical system, a combination of automated, exploratory, and manual black-box tests is recommended. Automated tests ensure consistent and efficient coverage of known scenarios, while exploratory tests allow testers to investigate and discover unknown issues. Manual black-box tests are important for verifying the system from an end-user perspective without knowledge of the internal workings, which is crucial for safety-critical systems. References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus and materials emphasize the importance of a comprehensive testing approach that includes various techniques suitable for the system’s risk level and criticality123

Option 4 is the best test approach for this Agile project. It suggests a neutral stance on test automation, highly recommends exploratory testing, and recommends black-box testing. This approach is suitable for a safety-critical application with a low-risk level due to the skilled and experienced project team. Exploratory testing is crucial in this context as it allows testers to investigate the system’s behavior under various scenarios and discover issues that may not be covered by automated tests or predefined test cases. Black-box testing is also recommended to ensure that the system meets its requirements without the need for detailed knowledge of its internal workings12.

References = ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents and Training resources34.

A service virtualization tool is used to create a simulated environment that mimics the behavior of components in a production environment. This allows for the creation of a shareable testing service from server or network traffic log data, enabling testing of applications and services without the need for the actual live production components. Service virtualization tools can capture and simulate the network traffic and data patterns, which is essential for creating robust and reliable test environments that are independent of the actual live systems12.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus and study resources discuss the use of service virtualization tools as part of the test automation approaches and continuous deployment and delivery processes. These resources highlight the importance of such tools in enabling effective testing within Agile environments12.

 A good practice in test automation for a regression-averse approach is to increase automated test coverage. This allows the team to ensure that as many features as possible are being tested automatically, which can help in identifying regressions early. Moreover, by automating the regression tests, testers can dedicate more time to exploratory testing, which is crucial for discovering issues that automated tests may not catch. Exploratory testing is an approach that relies on the tester’s creativity and experience, and it is an essential complement to automated regression testing123.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents and the resources available at Software Testing Help emphasize the importance of comprehensive test automation in Agile environments. They suggest that increasing automated test coverage is beneficial for maintaining software quality and allowing testers to focus on exploratory testing, which is a critical aspect of a thorough testing strategy45678.

A deterministic unit test is one that produces the same results every time it is run under the same conditions. This characteristic is crucial for unit tests because it ensures that the tests are reliable and that their results are repeatable. Deterministic tests help in identifying when a change in the codebase has introduced a defect, as any variation in the test outcome can be attributed to the change rather than an unpredictable test behavior12.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus and study resources emphasize the importance of deterministic behavior in unit tests as part of ensuring test reliability and effectiveness34.

 Option D is written in correct Gherkin format and is appropriate for the User Story. It clearly states the precondition (three Purchase Orders with a total value of £21.75 have been placed), the action taken by the Purchasing Manager (requesting the list of Purchase Orders placed this month), and the expected outcome (the 3 orders and their total value of £21.75 are displayed). This scenario directly addresses the Purchasing Manager’s desire to see a list of all Purchase Orders placed so far this month with their total value, which aligns with the User Story’s goal of controlling the amount of money being spent.

References = ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents and Training resources12.

 Story Mapping is a technique used in Agile development to create a visual representation of the system. It helps the team to understand the ‘overall’ story and the functional flow by arranging user stories along two independent dimensions. This method allows for a more holistic view of the project’s progress and priorities, ensuring that the development process aligns with the user’s needs and the product’s goals. References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus includes the analysis of user stories and epics using requirements engineering techniques and describes how these techniques can aid testers. Story Mapping is specifically mentioned as a method for managing requirements in an Agile context1.

The epic described is broad and encompasses a system that involves multiple stakeholders and vehicle types, indicating that it is not a small piece of work that can be completed in a short iteration. This violates the ‘Small’ criterion of INVEST, which states that stories should be the smallest piece of work that delivers useful functionality to fit within an iteration12. Additionally, the epic’s acceptance criteria apply to all user stories derived from it, suggesting that the stories are not independent of each other, as changes to one could affect the others. This goes against the ‘Independent’ criterion, which emphasizes that stories should be self-contained to avoid delays caused by dependencies12.

References = The INVEST criteria are a set of guidelines used to evaluate the quality of user stories and epics in Agile development. They ensure that the stories are well-defined and suitable for Agile practices, focusing on creating value through independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable stories123.

 In the context of Agile Technical Testing, when a test class fails, the immediate next step is to repair the failing code. This aligns with the Agile principle of fast feedback and continuous improvement. The failing test indicates that the current implementation does not meet the specified criteria, hence the need to correct the code. Once the code is repaired, it should be re-executed to verify that the test now passes, ensuring that the validation criterion is met.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester materials emphasize the importance of quick iterations and prompt responses to test failures. This approach helps maintain the momentum of the development process and ensures that issues are addressed as soon as they are identified1

Data-Driven Testing:Data-driven testing focuses on varying inputs and verifying expected outputs. For this story, the key input is the quantity of items purchased, and the output is whether free shipping applies.

Relevant Columns:

Item ID: Identifies the product.

Quantity Purchased: Determines whether the free shipping threshold is met.

Free Shipping (y/n): Validates if the message is correctly displayed.

Conclusion:Option B is correct as it includes the minimum required data to test the user story effectively.

What is Static Code Analysis?

Static code analysis examines code without executing it, identifying issues such as inefficiencies, complexities, and vulnerabilities.

How It Reduces Technical Debt:

By pinpointing areas of inefficient or overly complex code, developers can address these issues early, reducing the accumulation of technical debt over time.

Security vulnerabilities identified through static analysis prevent future costly rework or fixes.

Analyzing the Options:

A: Correctly identifies the benefits of identifying inefficiencies, complexities, and insecure code.

B: Static analysis happens after code is written, not during the writing process.

C: Static analysis complements but does not replace code reviews.

D: Static analysis does not replace unit tests, as they serve different purposes.

References:Aligned with ISTQB Advanced Agile Technical Tester syllabus on technical debt management and the role of static code analysis.

Definition of "Deterministic" in Unit Testing:

A deterministic test produces consistent results when executed under the same conditions.

Analyzing the Options:

A: Correctly describes deterministic behavior.

B: Refers to test coverage, not determinism.

C: Refers to atomicity, not determinism.

D: Speed is unrelated to determinism.

References:Aligned with ISTQB Agile Technical Tester syllabus emphasizing the need for tests to be consistent and predictable.

Automation and System Criticality:

For mission-critical systems, automation ensures consistent, repeatable testing, particularly for high-risk functionalities.

As risk increases, automation plays a key role in validating critical features and reducing the chance of human error.

For non-critical systems, the focus on automation is generally reduced, depending on cost-benefit analysis.

Analyzing the Options:

A: Correctly states that automation is prioritized for mission-critical systems as risk increases.

B: Incorrectly diminishes the importance of automation for non-critical systems without clarifying context.

C: Misrepresents automation levels as equal for critical and non-critical systems.

D: Incorrectly dismisses automation for non-critical systems, which can be valuable depending on the context.

References:ISTQB Agile Technical Tester syllabus emphasizes automation for high-risk systems while balancing cost and risk for non-critical systems.

Storyboards are a visual tool used in Agile methodologies to represent and analyze user stories and epics. They provide a sequential depiction of interactions, which aids in understanding and categorizing functionalities.

Visualization of Stories: Storyboards offer a visual representation of user interactions, making it easier to categorize stories into different functional areas. This visualization helps teams understand the flow and grouping of functionalities within the system.

Categorization into Functional Areas: By depicting user interactions and system responses, storyboards assist in organizing user stories and epics into specific categories or modules. This categorization is crucial for planning development and testing activities.

Therefore, option D accurately reflects the benefit of using storyboards in analyzing user stories and epics.

Debriefing Meetings in Exploratory Testing:

Debriefing meetings serve as a feedback mechanism where testers and stakeholders review the outcomes of exploratory testing.

The focus is on progress, coverage, and findings to evaluate the test session's effectiveness and adjust charters or objectives if needed.

Analyzing the Options:

A: Identifying defects is a part of testing but not the primary focus of the debriefing meeting.

B: Defining the test charter occurs before the session, not during the debriefing.

D: Reviewing tester actions is not a primary purpose and could be seen as micromanagement.

C: Providing status updates and coverage details aligns directly with the primary goal of debriefing meetings.

References:ISTQB Advanced Agile Technical Tester syllabus emphasizes debriefing as a critical step in exploratory testing for evaluating progress and coverage.

Step by Step Comprehensive Detailed Explanation with all References of Advanced Agile Technical Tester Objectives and Study Guides documents

Agile Methodology Alignment:Test charters in Agile emphasize the end-user perspective and should align with the story's goal. The focus should be on testing the user’s experience with the free shipping threshold.

Test Scenario Completeness:Option C captures all critical elements:

Logging in as a customer (essential for user-specific functionality).

Testing the threshold message (key to the story’s functionality).

Incrementally adding items until the threshold is met (realistic usage flow).

Completing the checkout process and verifying free delivery.

Other Options:

A is too broad and doesn’t focus on the story’s goal.

B is too narrow, failing to test dynamic thresholds and realistic flows.

D shifts the perspective to a supplier, which is irrelevant to the customer’s story.

Conclusion:Option C best reflects the Agile principles of customer focus and iterative testing while fully covering the story’s requirements.

Review of User Story:The story's focus is on notifying the customer of the delivery time, not the shipping fee or free shipping qualification.

Analyzing the Charter:

The charter mentions verifying shipping fees, which is unrelated to the functionality of the user story.

It does not address delivery time notifications, which are the main purpose of the user story.

Alignment with Agile Testing Principles:Agile testing requires charters to align closely with the story’s intent and customer goals.

Conclusion:The main flaw is that the charter does not test the core functionality of the story, making Option B correct.

Purpose of Service Virtualization:Service virtualization allows simulation of external services during testing, enabling cost-effective and efficient testing without relying on the live service.

Cost Reduction:The bank charges per transaction, and using the actual service during continuous testing could incur significant fees. Virtualized services eliminate these fees, reducing costs.

Analysis of Options:

A: While a virtualized service may improve speed, the primary benefit here is cost savings.

B: Correct, as eliminating transaction fees directly addresses the problem.

C: Virtualization doesn’t inherently improve security for automation code.

D: Virtualized services don’t necessarily reduce data management needs.

Conclusion:Option B is correct as it highlights the key advantage of cost savings.

Understanding Refinement Needs in Acceptance Criteria:

Well-defined acceptance criteria must be clear, measurable, and testable.

Criteria that lack specificity or are too broad need refinement to ensure they can be implemented and tested effectively.

Analyzing the Options:

A: "The backend system must respond to the mobile app within 3 seconds" is clear, measurable, and testable.

C: "The mobile app must detect when the phone does not have Internet connectivity and display a warning message" is actionable and measurable.

D: "The payload delivered by the backend system must use JSON formatting" is specific and testable.

B: "The communication between the two systems must be secure" lacks details. Security requirements should specify the protocols or methods (e.g., TLS encryption) to make the acceptance criteria clear and actionable.

References:Aligned with ISTQB Agile Technical Tester principles emphasizing clear, testable acceptance criteria for Agile stories.

The increase in automated test coverage allows for more frequent and extensive testing of the software, which in turn provides more up-to-date information about the current state of the system. This enables testers to apply reactive strategies effectively, as they can focus manual testing efforts on areas that are most likely to be affected by recent changes or that are identified as high-risk. Reactive strategies are adaptive and context-dependent, making them well-suited for the dynamic and iterative nature of Agile projects.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus and study materials emphasize the importance of integrating automated testing within the Agile process to support continuous integration and delivery. It also highlights the need for manual testing to complement automated tests by focusing on areas that require human judgment and exploratory testing skills12.

In the context of test-driven development (TDD), the next step after writing a failing test is to write the minimum amount of code necessary to make the test pass. This approach encourages simple designs and inspires confidence that the system is functioning as expected. Once the test passes, you can then refactor the code to improve its structure without changing its behavior.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus outlines the TDD process as a cycle of writing a failing test, making it pass, and then refactoring the code. This is a fundamental practice in Agile technical testing to ensure that the codebase remains clean and maintainable12.

 The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus suggests that after a successful proof of concept (POC), it is important to expand the Continuous Integration (CI) process to handle various test configurations. This is especially relevant for a product deployed across different hardware configurations in Europe. By enabling different test configurations in the CI process, you can ensure that the product works correctly on all the hardware configurations it will encounter in the market. This step is crucial for maintaining the quality and reliability of the product in diverse environments.

References = ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents and Training resources12.

Continuous testing facilitates continuous delivery by ensuring that every change made to the codebase is tested automatically and immediately, which helps in identifying defects as early as possible. Automated testing in the delivery environment is crucial as it validates the success of the delivery process by ensuring that the software operates as expected in the production-like environment before the actual release.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester certification highlights the importance of technical testing skills in Agile development, including test automation approaches and continuous deployment and delivery1234.

Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) involves the whole team collaboratively discussing acceptance criteria, with examples, and then distilling them into a set of concrete acceptance tests before development begins. It’s a way to get clear on what to build, and it’s done in a way that allows the team to know when a story is complete. ATDD helps to make sure that all the stakeholders have a common understanding of what is being built and what the success criteria are.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents emphasize the importance of defining testable requirements within an Agile team and creating and implementing various Agile test approaches using appropriate techniques1. It also supports the contribution to test automation activities in an Agile project2, which aligns with the principles of ATDD.

The appropriate test charter for the user story provided should focus on the customer’s experience and the functionality described in the story. Option C is the most suitable because it covers the entire process from the customer’s perspective: logging in, purchasing an item, receiving information about the requirement for free shipping, adding more items, and then verifying that the delivery is free upon checkout. This test charter effectively tests the acceptance criteria of the user story by ensuring that the system provides the necessary information and applies the free shipping offer correctly when the conditions are met.

References = The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus outlines the importance of creating test charters that align with user stories and epics using requirements engineering techniques. It emphasizes the need for test charters to be comprehensive and to evaluate the acceptance criteria effectively123.

 The correct statement about performing exploratory testing with test charters is that the result of such testing is finding defects and specification defects. Exploratory testing with test charters is a structured but flexible approach that focuses on learning about the system and designing tests as one explores the system12. It allows testers to uncover not just defects in the code, but also gaps or ambiguities in the specifications or requirements. This approach is particularly useful when there are no detailed specifications available, as it relies on the tester’s skill and intuition to explore the system’s behavior12. Test charters guide the exploratory testing session but do not prescribe specific expected results upfront, as is done in black-box testing. Instead, they provide a mission or objective for the testing session, allowing for a more investigative approach to testing12.

References =

ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester Syllabus1

ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester Learning Objectives2

Please ensure to refer to the latest ISTQB documents and resources for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

When creating a user story, it is essential to consider the perspective of the end user. This is because user stories are meant to capture the requirements and experiences of the actual users who will interact with the system or product. The ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester syllabus emphasizes the importance of analyzing user stories and epics using requirements engineering techniques, which include creating and evaluating testable acceptance criteria from the end user’s perspective. This approach ensures that the developed features will meet the real needs and expectations of the users, leading to a more user-centered and valuable product.

References = ISTQB Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester documents and Training resources12.