Free Practice Questions for ISTQB CTAL-TTA Exam

The control flow graph provided illustrates the decision points for an airline's upgrade and boarding process. Decision coverage is a measure of the percentage of decision points executed during testing:

Test 1 covers the decision points: Gold card? (Yes) and Business full? (No).

Test 2 covers: Gold card? (No) and Economy full? (No).

Test 3 covers the decision that leads to being bumped from the flight, which is Economy full? (Yes) and Business full? (Yes).

From the given tests, the decision points for Gold card? (No) and Business full? (No) are not tested, leaving us with 4 out of 6 decision points covered, which is approximately 67% decision coverage.

In the context of software testing, different safety integrity levels (SIL) require different levels of rigor in testing. According to the IEC61508 standard, for software components rated at SIL 2, achieving 100% statement coverage and 100% decision coverage is recommended. Statement coverage ensures that every line of code is executed at least once during testing, while decision coverage ensures that every decision in the code (e.g., every branch of an IF statement) is executed on both the true and false sides. These coverage criteria ensure a thorough testing of the software components to validate that they behave correctly in all circumstances. Multiple condition coverage and MC/DC coverage (Options A and B) are more rigorous and typically required for higher SIL levels, such as SIL 4.

For a product that has reached its capacity limits and requires testing to ensure it can handle projected growth, scalability testing is the most appropriate. Scalability testing evaluates a system's ability to manage an increasing workload without compromising performance or other operational capabilities. This type of testing will help confirm whether the system can handle the estimated increase in load, which is aligned with the strict performance efficiency and growth requirements for the next three years

Model-based testing tools support the creation and execution of tests based on models of the system under test. Finite state machines (FSMs) are often used in model-based testing to describe the expected behavior of a system during execution. FSMs help in defining the states of the system and the transitions between these states based on events, which can then be used to generate test cases that validate the system's behavior against the model.

In this scenario, the project's stakeholders have expressed concerns about several risk factors related to the new sales and merchandising system. As a Technical Test Analyst, it's essential to identify the quality characteristics that contain the highest levels of technical risk.

Stakeholder Concerns:

Length of the Batch Job Runs:

This directly impacts the time behavior of the system, which is a sub-characteristic of performance efficiency.

Ease of Parameter Entry for Users:

This impacts operability, a sub-characteristic of usability, but considering the given options, it’s not the highest technical risk compared to others.

Unauthorized Access to Stored Sales Data:

This is a critical concern under security, which involves protecting the system from unauthorized access and ensuring data integrity and confidentiality.

Limited Time for Testing:

This relates to testability, which is the ease with which the system can be tested, but it’s less critical compared to time behavior and security in this context.

Quality Characteristics with Highest Technical Risk:

Time Behavior (Option B):

The efficiency of batch job runs is crucial since delays can impact other dependent jobs and overall system performance. Ensuring that batch jobs complete within the scheduled time is vital to maintain system reliability and performance efficiency.

Security (Option D):

Unauthorized access to sales data is a significant risk. Ensuring robust security measures to protect sensitive data is essential to prevent data breaches and maintain data integrity.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

A. Operability: While ease of use is important, it’s not the highest technical risk compared to performance and security.

C. Interoperability: This relates to how well the system interacts with other systems, which is not a primary concern based on the given stakeholder issues.

E. Testability: Although important, the limited testing time is less critical compared to the risks associated with system performance and data security.

References:

The ISTQB CTAL-TTA syllabus discusses quality characteristics and their sub-characteristics, emphasizing the importance of understanding different types of risks in software testing. In this case, performance efficiency (time behavior) and security are the most critical aspects given the stakeholder concerns.

Sources:

ISTQB-CTAL-TTA Syllabus

General knowledge on quality characteristics in software testing.

A data flow anomaly occurs when a variable is used in an illogical manner within a program. The anomalies are typically classified into the following categories:

Defined but not Used (d-u): A variable is assigned a value, but the value is never utilized.

Declared but not Defined (d): A variable is declared but not given an initial value.

Killed before being Defined (k-d): A variable is released or nullified before any value is assigned to it.

Defined twice before Use (d-d): A variable is assigned a value multiple times without being used between definitions.

In the given pseudocode, Cruise_Length is declared at the beginning but it is neither assigned any value (defined) nor used anywhere in the program. This makes it a case of "Defined but not Used".

References:

This explanation is derived from standard definitions and explanations of data flow anomalies in the context of software testing and static analysis, which are part of the ISTQB CTAL-TTA syllabus and testing principles.

The statement about performance testing tools that is NOT correct is that they typically drive the application by simulating user interaction at the graphical user interface (GUI) level to more accurately measure response times. In practice, performance testing tools often simulate user interactions at a protocol or service level rather than the GUI level. This approach allows the tools to generate a high load by simulating many virtual users, which would be challenging to achieve with GUI-level interactions due to the higher resource consumption and slower execution speed associated with GUI automation.

Performance testing tools are designed to assess the performance of a system under a particular load and are not primarily focused on the user interface. They simulate multiple users accessing the system simultaneously, which helps in identifying bottlenecks, understanding the system's behavior under load, and determining how the system scales with increasing load. The tools typically simulate user requests to the server, bypassing the GUI to directly test the backend, APIs, or other service endpoints. This method allows for more efficient and scalable testing, enabling the simulation of thousands of users without the overhead of rendering the GUI.

When users complain about issues with links on a website, the most appropriate test tool to identify the causes of these failures is a hyperlink tool (answer B). Hyperlink tools are specifically designed to check the validity of links on web pages. They can automatically identify broken or dead links, which is essential for maintaining the quality and user experience of a website. Review tools, static analysis tools, and dynamic analysis tools do not primarily focus on hyperlink verification.

Analysis:

To determine the correct keyword-driven input table for testing the enhancement to the social media application, we need to ensure the table adequately covers the following scenarios:

Adding existing members to a group.

Attempting to add non-existing members to a group and handling the error.

Removing members from a group.

Deleting groups only if no members are attached.

A. (Image A) - Assuming Image A correctly represents these scenarios.

Adding Members: The table should include steps to add both valid (existing) and invalid (non-existing) members to a group, ensuring the application correctly handles both scenarios.

Removing Members: The table should include steps to remove members from a group.

Deleting Groups: The table should include a scenario where a group with no members is deleted successfully.

References:

The ISTQB CTAL-TTA syllabus and standard keyword-driven testing practices emphasize the importance of comprehensive test coverage for new enhancements.

Sources:

ISTQB-CTAL-TTA Syllabus

General knowledge on keyword-driven testing.