Foundation Level ISTQB-CTFL Book

A formal review is a type of review that follows a defined process with formal entry and exit criteria and roles and responsibilities for participants. A formal review can have various roles involved, such as manager, moderator, author, reviewer and scribe. The manager responsibilities in formal review include all except one of the following:

Planning the review (correct responsibility)

Determines if the review objectives have been met (incorrect responsibility)

Decide on the execution of reviews (correct responsibility)

Allocate time for review (correct responsibility) The responsibility of determining if the review objectives have been met belongs to the moderator role, not to the manager role. Verified References: [A Study Guide to the ISTQB® Foundation Level 2018 Syllabus - Springer], Chapter 3, page 28-29.

The question is about identifying an example of testing contributing to higher quality. Quality is the degree to which a component, system or process meets specified requirements and/or user/customer needs and expectations1. Testing is the process consisting of all lifecycle activities, both static and dynamic, concerned with planning, preparation and evaluation of software products and related work products to determine that they satisfy specified requirements, to demonstrate that they are fit for purpose and to detect defects2.

Therefore, testing contributes to higher quality by verifying and validating that the software products and related work products meet the specified requirements, are fit for purpose and have no defects, or at least have a reduced number of defects. Testing also provides information about the quality of the software products and related work products to the stakeholders, who can make informed decisions based on the test results3.

Out of the four given statements, only option D is an example of testing contributing to higher quality, as it shows that testing has detected a defect (a flaw in a component or system that can cause the component or system to fail to perform its required function4) and that the defect has been resolved (fixed and confirmed) prior to release (delivery of the software product to the customer or end user). This means that testing has prevented a potential failure (an event in which a component or system does not perform a required function within specified limits) from occurring in the operational environment, and thus has improved the quality of the software product.

Option A is not an example of testing contributing to higher quality, as it is a reporting activity that summarizes the test results and evaluates the test objectives, but does not directly affect the quality of the software product or related work products. A test summary report is a document that records and communicates the outcomes of testing activities, including test completion criteria, test results, incident reports, test summary and evaluation, and lessons learned.

Option B is not an example of testing contributing to higher quality, as it is a planning activity that estimates the resources and time needed for testing activities, but does not directly affect the quality of the software product or related work products. A test effort estimate is an approximation of the amount of work and/or the duration of time required to perform testing activities.

Option C is not an example of testing contributing to higher quality, as it is a preparation activity that sets up the test environment (an environment containing hardware, instrumentation, simulators, software tools, and other support elements needed to conduct a test), but does not directly affect the quality of the software product or related work products. A test environment installation is a process of installing and configuring the test environment according to the test environment specification.

Boundary Value Analysis (BVA) is a software testing technique in which tests are designed to include values at the boundaries. The concept is to focus on the boundaries since errors tend to occur at the edges of input ranges rather than in the middle.

Given the problem statement:

Up to $100.00 = 2%

$100.01 to $500.00 = 4%

$500.01 to $1,000.00 = 5%

Above $1,000.00 = 7%

Two-point boundary value analysis means testing the two boundaries of each range.

For each range:

The boundaries for "Up to $100.00" would be $100.00 and $100.01.

The boundaries for "$100.01 to $500.00" would be $100.00 and $500.00.

The boundaries for "$500.01 to $1,000.00" would be $500.00 and $1,000.00.

The boundaries for "Above $1,000.00" would be $1,000.00 and $1,000.01.

Now, let's examine the options:

A. $5.00, $100.00, $499.99, $1,000.00, $1,000.01

Missing $100.01 and $500.01.

B. $100.00, $100.01, $100.02, $500.00, $999.99

Covers $100.00, $100.01, $500.00, $1000.00, and $1000.01.

C. $100.00, $500.00, $1,000.00, $1,000.01

Missing $100.01 and $500.01.

D. $5.00, $100.00, $500.00, $1,000.01

Missing $100.01 and $500.01.

Given the options, B provides the highest boundary coverage​ (ISTQB not-for-profit association)​​ (Udemy)​.

Statements II, III and V are true about test reports. Test reports are documents that provide information on the results and status of testing activities for a given period or phase. Test reports should give stakeholders information as basis for decisions, such as whether to release the software product, whether to continue testing, whether to change the scope or priorities of testing, etc. Test reports should summarize what happened through a period of testing, such as what test cases were executed, what defects were found, what risks were identified, what issues were encountered, what achievements were made, etc. Test reports should include information about remaining risks, such as what defects are still open, what test cases are still pending, what functionalities are still untested, what uncertainties are still unresolved, etc. Statements I and IV are not true about test reports. Test reports do not need to be approved by the test team, the development team, or the customer, unless it is specified by the test policy or the test plan. Test reports only need to be reviewed and verified by the test leader or the test manager before being distributed to the intended recipients. Verified References: A Study Guide to the ISTQB® Foundation Level 2018 Syllabus - Springer, page 141.