A Study Guide to the ISTQB® Foundation Level 2018 Syllabus: Test Techniques and Sample Mock Exams

252 Pages·2018·5.221 MB·English

by  Adam Roman

Adam Roman
A Study Guide
to the ISTQB®
Foundation Level
2018 Syllabus
Test Techniques
and Sample Mock Exams
A Study Guide to
®
the ISTQB Foundation Level 2018 Syllabus
Adam Roman
A Study Guide
®
to the ISTQB
Foundation Level
2018 Syllabus
Test Techniques and Sample Mock Exams
AdamRoman
InstituteofComputerScienceand
ComputationalMathematics
JagiellonianUniversity
Krakow,Poland
ISBN978-3-319-98739-2 ISBN978-3-319-98740-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98740-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018952487
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2018
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Preface
This book is an excellent, helpful, and up-to-date resource for all the candidates
preparing for the ISTQB® Foundation Level certification exam based on a new
Foundation Level 2018 Syllabus. There are many sample questions and informa-
tion related to the Foundation Level exam on the web. However, there are two
problems with them. First, most of them will be outdated in a while, as the old
syllabusandexamswillberetractedonJune4,2019.Second,muchofthisstuffisof
badquality.Manysamplequestionsthatcanbefoundonthewebdonotfollowthe
®
strictISTQB examinationrules.Forexample:
(cid:129) Theyrefertotermsthatarenotdefinedinthesyllabus(sotheknowledgeofthese
termsisnotrequiredwhentakingtheexam).
(cid:129) They use the proper names of tools or applications, which a candidate does not
needtoknowabout.
(cid:129) They are incorrectly constructed—for example, a question that should examine
someLearningObjectiveonaK3leveldoesitonlyonK1level,whichisaclear
violationoftheexamquestionconstructionrules.
Finally, one can observe a persistent problem with the test techniques. Many
explanationsofthesemethodsareincorrect,ambiguous,orevenwrong.Errorscan
be found even in the respectable books and official ISTQB® materials. Here are
someexamples:
(cid:129) In the book by Black and Mitchell (Advanced Software Testing vol. 3), the
MC/DC white-box technique is incorrectly explained—the set of test cases
givenintheexampledoesnotachievetheMC/DCcoverage.
(cid:129) In the monograph by Binder (Testing Object-Oriented Systems), the technique
relatedtotheso-calledlinearlyindependentpathsisincorrectlyinterpreted.
(cid:129) IntheofficialAdvancedLevel—TestAnalystISTQB®exam,thereisamistakein
one of the questions on state transition testing: the answers do not contain the
correctnumberof1-switchesthatneedtobecovered.
v
vi Preface
(cid:129) Another question from the same exam, related to the domain analysis, does not
followthecoveragerulesdescribedinthesyllabusandincorrectlyinterpretsthe
notionoftheboundary.
®
Below is a list of things that distinguish this book from other ISTQB exam-
relatedresources:
(cid:129) Topicality. The material in this book complies with the newest version of the
FoundationLevelSyllabuspublishedin2018.
(cid:129) Quality and originality. The exam questions in this book are original, not
®
redundant, of high quality, fully aligned with the ISTQB exam requirements
andhaveneverbeenpublishedbefore.
(cid:129) Hugeamountofmaterial.Thebookcontainsfivefullsampleexams(200ques-
®
tionsintotal)designedaccordingtotheISTQB examrules,withtheappropriate
distributionofquestionsregardingtheLearningObjectivesandK-levels.
(cid:129) Well-thought-outsamplequestions.Questionsareconstructednotonlytocover
the corresponding Learning Objectives in a proper way, but also to show the
typicalpitfallsusuallyplacedintheexamquestionsbytherespectiveauthors.
(cid:129) Diversity. Questions from different sample exams related to the same Learning
Objectivearediverse,thatis,eachofthempointsoutdifferentaspectsofagiven
Learning Objective. This is an excellent method for better and more effective
learningandpreparingfortheexam.
(cid:129) Comprehensive, intelligible explanations. All answers are justified and
explained in an exhaustive and detailed way that is easy to understand. We
explain not only why a given answer is correct, but also why all the others are
wrong. This helps the candidate to understand the way of thinking of a person
whodesignstheexamquestionsandalsohelpsinbetterpreparationfortheexam.
(cid:129) A lot of bonus stuff. The book contains a great bonus pack: the chapters that
explain the white-box and black-box test techniques in a detailed way, a set of
exercises on test techniques, and the detailed solutions to them. These chapters
alsodiscusssomeimportantissuesrelatedtothetesttechniquesnotmentionedin
thesyllabus.Itisgoodtobeawareofthem,astheyoccurfrequentlyintheexam
questions. Another chapter gives some useful tips and tricks that may help the
candidate to be more efficient during the preparation and during the exam. Yet
anotheronepresentsthenewversionoftheGlossarycontainingtermsrelatedto
the2018FoundationLevelSyllabus,astherearesomesignificantchangeswhen
comparedwiththeold2011syllabus.Finally,thelastchaptershowsthequestion
numbersinallfivesampleexamsets,sortedbyLearningObjectives.Thisisvery
helpful if you want to assess your knowledge related to a specific Learning
Objective.
ISTQB® Certification Product Portfolio On January 2016, ISTQB® publicly
announced its new product portfolio that constitutes a considerable evolution in
®
ISTQB go-to-marketstrategy.Theproductportfolioarchitecturehasbeenevolved
®
on the basis of several market studies as well as the outcomes of the ISTQB
EffectivenessSurvey.Itsmaingoalsareto:
Preface vii
OORRGGAANNIIZZAAAATTIIOONNAALL
AGILE
AAGGIILLEE TTEESSTTEERR
TRACK
TTEECCHHNNIICCAALL
TTEESSTT MMAANNAAGGEERR TTEESSTT MMAANNAAGGEEMMEENNTT
CORE IIMMPPRROOVVIINNGG TTHHEE TTEESSTT
CCEERRTTIIFFIIEEDD TTEESSTTEERR TTEESSTT AANNAALLLLYYSSTT
PPRROOCCEESSSS
TTEECCHHNNIICCAALL TTEESSTT
AANNAALLLLYYSSTT
MMOODDEELL--BBAASSEEDD TTEESSTTEERR GGAAMMBBLLIINNGG IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY
SSEECCUURRIITTYY TTEESSTTEERR
TTEESSTTEERR
UUSSBBAAIILLIITTYY TTEESSTTEERR
SPECIALIST MMOOBBIILLEE AAPPPPLLIICCAAAATTIIOONN TTEESSTT AAUUTTOOMMAAAATTIIOONN
TRACK TTEESSTTEERR EENNGGIINNEEEERR
ACCEPTANCE TESTER
PPEERRFFOORRMMAANNCCEE
AAUUTTOOMMOOTTIIVVEE TTEESSTTEERR TTEESSTTEERR
FOUNDATION LEVEL ADVANCED LEVEL EXPERT LEVEL
Fig.1 ISTQB®CertificationPortfolio(fromMay2018)
(cid:129) MaintainthemissionandvisionofISTQB®andkeepthehighqualityofdeliver-
ablesthathasmarkedthesuccessoftheschemeworldwide.
(cid:129) Maintainthefocusonsoftwaretesting.
(cid:129) Maintainthevalidityofcertificationsalreadyobtained.
(cid:129) ExtendthecoverageofISTQB®certificationstoadditionalspecifictopics.
(cid:129) Maketheschememoremodular.
(cid:129) Make it easier for professionals to obtain the specific certifications they are
interestedin.
(cid:129) Provideanoverallframeworkinwhichexistingaswellasfuturemoduleswillfit
inacoherentway.
TheportfolioispresentedinFig.1.Itfollowsamatrixapproachcharacterizedby
twocharacteristics:
(cid:129) Levels—thatidentifyprogressivelyincreasingLearningObjectives
– FoundationLevel
– AdvancedLevel
– ExpertLevel
viii Preface
(cid:129) Streams—thatidentifyclustersofcertificationmodules
– Coretrack
– Specialisttrack
– Agiletrack
This book will help you to prepare better for the most fundamental certificate:
Foundation Level certificate. It is a base for all other certifications: to sit for the
exams for all the other certificates, you must be a holder of the Foundation Level
certificate.
Thebookconsistsoffourpartsandtheappendix:
(cid:129) Part I: Foundation Level Syllabus and Exam—here we present detailed
information on the 2018 Foundation Level Syllabus and Foundation Level
examination, its structure, and rules. The information in this part of the book is
basedontheofficialISTQB®documents.
(cid:129) Part II: Test Techniques—here we present all the white-box and black-box
techniques described in the syllabus. We also give over 30 exercises on these
techniques,togetherwiththedetailedsolutions.
(cid:129) Part III: Sample Mock Exams—here we give five full sets of exam questions
®
(altogether 200 test questions), following the ISTQB exam rules and covering
alltherequiredLearningObjectives.
(cid:129) Part IV: Solutions and Answers—here we give the solutions, extensive justi-
fications,anddetailedanswerstoalltheexercisesandexamquestionsfromParts
IIandIII.
(cid:129) Appendices—The Appendices contain the Glossary Terms for the new 2018
versionoftheFoundationLevelSyllabusandthetablethatshowsthedistribution
of the mock exam questions prepared to fulfill the Learning Objectives, which
allows the reader to locate easily all the sample questions that cover a given
Learning Objective. This table is very helpful when a reader wants to practice
onlysomeparticularpartofthesyllabusmaterial(e.g.,thequestionsonboundary
valueanalysis,thequestionsonthetestprocess,etc.).
Krakow,Poland AdamRoman
Contents
PartI FoundationLevelSyllabusandExam
1 2018FoundationSyllabusOverview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 BackgroundandHistoryoftheFoundationCertificate
inSoftwareTesting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 ObjectivesoftheFoundationCertificateQualification. . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 SyllabusContent. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. 5
1.4 StructureoftheSyllabuswiththeCorrespondingLearning
Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 BusinessOutcomes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.6 ChangesintheNewVersionoftheSyllabus. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 10
®
2 ISTQB FoundationLevelExamStructureandRules. . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 LearningObjectivesandK-Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 EntryRequirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 TheExam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 ExamTipsandTricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
PartII TestTechniques
3 TestTechniquesandExercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4 Black-BoxTestingTechniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1 EquivalencePartitioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.1 TechniqueDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.2 Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2 BoundaryValueAnalysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2.1 TechniqueDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2.2 Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3 DecisionTableTesting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.3.1 TechniqueDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.3.2 Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
ix
x Contents
4.4 StateTransitionTesting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 44
4.4.1 TechniqueDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.4.2 Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.5 UseCaseTesting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.5.1 TechniqueDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.5.2 Exercises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5 White-BoxTestTechniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.1 StatementTestingandCoverage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.2 DecisionTestingandCoverage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.3 ExercisesforWhite-BoxTechniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
PartIII SampleMockExams
6 SampleExam:QuestionSet1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
7 SampleExam:QuestionSet2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
8 SampleExam:QuestionSet3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
9 SampleExam:QuestionSet4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
10 SampleExam:QuestionSet5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
PartIV SolutionsandAnswers
11 SolutionstoExercisesonTestTechniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
12 AnswerstoQuestionSet1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
13 AnswerstoQuestionSet2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
14 AnswerstoQuestionSet3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
15 AnswerstoQuestionSet4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
16 AnswerstoQuestionSet5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
AppendixAGlossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
AppendixBQuestionsDistributionbyLearningObjectives. . . . . . . . . . 249