Istqb F.l. Glossary Chap. 1 - 5

Front 1

Formal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processes conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies the __________ criteria and to enable the user, customers or other authorized entity to determine whether or not to ______ the system.

Back 1

Acceptance testing

Front 2

Simulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers site, but outside the development organization. _____ _______ is often employed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing.

Back 2

Alpha testing

Front 3

Operational testing by potential and/or existing users/customers at an external site not otherwise involved with the developers, to determine whether or not a component or system satisfies the user/customer needs and fits within the business processes.

Back 3

Beta testing

Front 4

A flaw in a component or system that can cause the component or system to fail to perform its required function.

Back 4

Bug - Defect - Fault

Front 5

The testing of individual software c__________.

Back 5

Component testing

Front 6

The degree, expressed as a percentage, to which a specified ________ item has been exercised by a test suite.

Back 6

Coverage - Test Coverage

Front 7

The process of finding, analyzing and removing the causes of failures in software.

Back 7

Debugging

Front 8

A software component or test tool that replaces a component that takes care of the control and/or the calling of a component or system.

Back 8

Driver

Front 9

A human action that produces an incorrect result.

Back 9

Error - Mistake

Front 10

A test design technique where the experience of the tester is used to anticipate what defects might be present in the component or system under test as a result of errors made, and to design tests specifically to expose them.

Back 10

Error Guessing

Front 11

A test approach in which the test suite comprises all combinations of input values and preconditions.

Back 11

Exhaustive Testing

Front 12

The set of generic and specific conditions, agreed upon with the stakeholders, for permitting a process to be officially completed.

Back 12

Exit Criteria

Front 13

Deviation of the component or system from its expected delivery, service or result.

Back 13

Failure

Front 14

A ___________ that specifies a function that a component or system must perform.

Back 14

Functional requirement

Front 15

Any event occurring that requires investigation.

Back 15

Incident

Front 16

A development life cycle where a project is broken into a series of __________.

Back 16

Incremental development model

Front 17

Separation of responsibilities, which encourages the accomplishment of objective testing.

Back 17

Independence

Front 18

The process of combining components or systems into larger assemblies.

Back 18

Integration

Front 19

Testing performed to expose defects in the interfaces and in the interactions between components or systems.

Back 19

Integration testing

Front 20

A ___________ that does not relate to functionality, but to attributes such as reliability, efficiency, usability, maintainability and portability.

Back 20

Non-functional requirement

Front 21

A software product that is developed for the general market, i.e. for a large number of customers, and that is delivered to many customers in identical format.

Back 21

Off-the-shelf software

Front 22

The degree to which a component, system or process meets specified requirements and/or user/customer needs and expectations.

Back 22

Quality

Front 23

Testing of a previously tested program following modification to ensure that defects have not been introduced or uncovered in unchanged areas of the software as a result of the changes made. It is performed when the software or its environment is changed.

Back 23

Regression Testing

Front 24

A condition or capability needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve an objective that must be met or possessed by a system or system component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document.

Back 24

Requirement

Front 25

Testing that runs test cases that failed the last time they were run, in order to verify the success of corrective actions.

Back 25

Retesting - Confirmation Testing

Front 26

An evaluation of a product or project status to ascertain discrepancies from planned results and to recommend improvements.

Back 26

Review

Front 27

A factor that could result in future negative consequences; usually expressed as impact and likelihood.

Back 27

Risk

Front 28

The degree to which a component or system can function correctly in the presence of invalid inputs or stressful environmental conditions.

Back 28

Robustness

Front 29

Testing to determine the ro________ of the software product.

Back 29

Robustness testing

Front 30

A skeletal or special-purpose implementation of a software component, used to develop or test a component that calls or is otherwise dependent on it. It replaces a called component.

Back 30

Stub

Front 31

The process of testing an integrated ______ to verify that it meets specified requirements.

Back 31

System testing

Front 32

The implementation of the test strategy for a specific project. It typically includes the decisions made based on the (test) project's goal and the risk assessment carried out, starting points regarding the test process, the test design techniques to be applied, exit criteria and test types to be performed.

Back 32

Test Approach

Front 33

All documents from which the requirements of a component or system can be inferred.

Back 33

Test Basis

Front 34

A set of input values, execution preconditions, expected results and execution postconditions developed for a particular objective or test condition, such as to exercise a particular program path or to verify compliance with a specific requirement.

Back 34

Test Case

Front 35

An item or event of a component or system that could be verified by one or more test cases, e.g. a function, transaction, feature, quality attribute, or structural element.

Back 35

Test Condition

Front 36

A test management task that deals with developing and applying a set of corrective actions to get a test project on track when monitoring shows a deviation from what was planned.

Back 36

Test Control

Front 37

Information that exists (for example, in a database) before a test is executed, and that affects or is affected by the component or system under test.

Back 37

Test Data

Front 38

A document specifying the test conditions (coverage items) for a test item, the detailed test approach and the associated high-level test cases.

Back 38

Test Design Specification

Front 39

A way of developing software where the test cases are developed, and often automated, before the software is developed to run those test cases.

Back 39

Test driven development

Front 40

An ___________ containing hardware, instrumentation, simulators, software tools, and other support elements needed to conduct a test.

Back 40

Test environment

Front 41

The process of running a test on the component or system under test, producing actual results.

Back 41

Test Execution

Front 42

A group of test activities that are organized and managed together.

Back 42

Test level

Front 43

A chronological record of relevant details about the execution of tests.

Back 43

Test Log

Front 44

A test management task that deals with the activities related to periodically checking the status of a test project. Reports are prepared that compare the actuals to that which was planned.

Back 44

Test Monitoring

Front 45

A reason or purpose for designing and executing a test.

Back 45

Test Objective

Front 46

A document describing the scope, approach, resources and schedule of intended test activities. It identifies, amongst others, test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, who will do each task, the degree of tester independence, the test environment, the test design techniques and entry and exit criteria to be used.

Back 46

Test Plan

Front 47

A high-level document describing the principles, approach and major objectives of the organization regarding testing.

Back 47

Test Policy

Front 48

A document specifying a sequence of actions for the execution of a test.

Back 48

Test Procedure Specification

Front 49

A high-level description of the test levels to be performed and the testing within those levels for an organization or program (one or more projects).

Back 49

Test Strategy

Front 50

A set of several test cases for a component or system under test, where the postcondition of one test is often used as the precondition for the next one.

Back 50

Test Suite

Front 51

A document summarizing testing activities and results. It also contains an evaluation of the corresponding test items against exit criteria.

Back 51

Test Summary Report

Front 52

The process consisting of all life cycle 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 defects.

Back 52

Testing

Front 53

Artifacts produced during the test process required to plan, design, and execute tests, such as documentation, scripts, inputs, expected results, set-up and clear-up procedures, files, databases, environment, and any additional software or utilities used in testing.

Back 53

Testware

Front 54

Confirmation by examination and through provision of objective evidence that the requirements for a specific intended use or application have been fulfilled.

Back 54

Validation

Front 55

Confirmation by examination and through provision of objective evidence that specified requirements have been fulfilled.

Back 55

Verification

Front 56

A framework to describe the software development life cycle activities from requirements specification to maintenance.

Back 56

V-model

Front 57

A group of test activities aimed at testing a component or system focused on a specific test objective, i.e. functional test, usability test, regression test etc.

Back 57

Test type

Front 58

Testing based on an analysis of the specification of the functionality of a component or system.

Back 58

Functional testing

Front 59

Testing, either functional or non-functional, without reference to the internal structure of the component or system.

Back 59

Black-box testing

Front 60

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the specification, either functional or non-functional, of a component or system without reference to its internal structure.

Back 60

Black-box test design technique

Front 61

The capability of the software product to provide functions which meet stated and implied needs when the software is used under specified conditions.

Back 61

Functionality

Front 62

The process of testing to determine the f____________ of a software product.

Back 62

Functionality testing

Front 63

The capability of the software product to interact with one or more specified components or systems.

Back 63

Interoperability

Front 64

The process of testing to determine the i_______________ of a software product.

Back 64

Interoperability testing

Front 65

Attributes of software products that bear on its ability to prevent unauthorized access, whether accidental or deliberate, to programs and data.

Back 65

Security

Front 66

Testing to determine the s_______ of the software product.

Back 66

Security testing

Front 67

A type of performance testing conducted to evaluate the behavior of a component or system with increasing ____, e.g. numbers of parallel users and/or numbers of transactions, to determine what load can be handled by the component or system.

Back 67

Load testing

Front 68

The degree to which a system or component accomplishes its designated functions within given constraints regarding processing time and throughput rate.

Back 68

Performance

Front 69

The process of testing to determine the pe_________ of a software product. See also efficiency testing.

Back 69

Performance testing

Front 70

Testing conducted to evaluate a system or component at or beyond the limits of its specified requirements.

Back 70

Stress testing

Front 71

The process of testing to determine the re_________ of a software product.

Back 71

Reliability testing

Front 72

The capability of the software to be understood, learned, used and attractive to the user when used under specified conditions.

Back 72

Usability

Front 73

Testing to determine the extent to which the software product is understood, easy to learn, easy to operate and attractive to the users under specified conditions.

Back 73

Usability testing

Front 74

The capability of the software product to provide appropriate performance, relative to the amount of resources used under stated conditions.

Back 74

Efficiency

Front 75

The process of testing to determine the e_________ of a software product.

Back 75

Efficiency testing

Front 76

The ease with which the software product can be transferred from one hardware or software environment to another.

Back 76

Portability

Front 77

The process of testing to determine the po_________ of a software product.

Back 77

Portability testing

Front 78

Testing based on an analysis of the internal structure of the component or system.

Back 78

White-box testing (structural testing)

Front 79

An analysis method that determines which parts of the software have been executed (covered) by the test suite and which parts have not been executed.

Back 79

Code coverage

Front 80

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the internal structure of a component or system.

Back 80

White-box test design technique

Front 81

Modification of a software product after delivery to correct defects, to improve performance or other attributes, or to adapt the product to a modified environment.

Back 81

Maintenance

Front 82

Testing the changes to an operational system or the impact of a changed environment to an operational system.

Back 82

Maintenance testing

Front 83

The ease with which a software product can be modified to correct defects, modified to meet new requirements, modified to make future maintenance easier, or adapted to a changed environment.

Back 83

Maintainability

Front 84

The process of testing to determine the m______________ of a software product.

Back 84

Maintainability testing

Front 85

The assessment of change to the layers of development documentation, test documentation and components, in order to implement a given change to specified requirements.

Back 85

Impact analysis

Front 86

The process consisting of all life cycle 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 defects.

Back 86

Testing

Front 87

Testing of a component or system at specification or implementation level without execution of that software, e.g. reviews.

Back 87

Static testing

Front 88

Testing that involves the execution of the software of a component or system.

Back 88

Dynamic Testing

Front 89

A review not based on a documented procedure.

Back 89

Informal review

Front 90

A review characterized by documented procedures and requirements, e.g. inspection.

Back 90

Formal review

Front 91

The leader and main person responsible for an inspection or other review process.

Back 91

Moderator

Front 92

The set of generic and specific conditions for permitting a process to go forward with a defined task, e.g. test phase.

Back 92

Entry criteria

Front 93

The person that identifies and describes anomalies in the product or project. Can be chosen to represent different viewpoints and roles.

Back 93

Reviewer (inspector)

Front 94

The person who records each defect mentioned and any suggestions for process improvement during a review meeting, on a logging form. The _____ has to ensure that the logging form is readable and understandable.

Back 94

Scribe

Front 95

A ______ of a software work product by colleagues of the producer of the product for the purpose of identifying defects and improvements. Examples are inspection, technical review and walkthrough.

Back 95

Peer review

Front 96

A step-by-step presentation by the author of a document in order to gather information and to establish a common understanding of its content.

Back 96

Walkthrough

Front 97

A peer group discussion activity that focuses on achieving consensus on the technical approach to be taken.

Back 97

Technical review

Front 98

A type of peer review that relies on visual examination of documents to detect defects, e.g. violations of development standards and non-conformance to higher level documentation. The most formal review technique and therefore always based on a documented procedure.

Back 98

Inspection

Front 99

Analysis of software artifacts, e.g. requirements or code, carried out without execution of these software artifacts.

Back 99

Static analysis

Front 100

A software tool that translates programs expressed in a high order language into their machine language equivalents.

Back 100

Compiler

Front 101

The degree to which a component or system has a design and/or internal structure that is difficult to understand, maintain and verify.

Back 101

Complexity

Front 102

The number of independent paths through a program. Defined as: L – N + 2P, where - L = the number of edges/links in a graph - N = the number of nodes in a graph - P = the number of disconnected parts of the graph (e.g. a called graph and a subroutine)

Back 102

Cyclomatic complexity

Front 103

A sequence of events (paths) in the execution through a component or system.

Back 103

Control flow

Front 104

An abstract representation of the sequence and possible changes of the state of data objects, where the state of an object is any of: creation, usage, or destruction.

Back 104

Data flow

Front 105

A measurement scale and the method used for measurement.

Back 105

Metric

Front 106

Procedure used to derive and/or select test cases.

Back 106

Test design technique

Front 107

The ability to identify related items in documentation and software, such as requirements with associated tests.

Back 107

Traceability

Front 108

A document specifying the test conditions (coverage items) for a test item, the detailed test approach and identifying the associated high level test cases.

Back 108

Test design specification

Front 109

A document specifying a set of test cases (objective, inputs, test actions, expected results, and execution preconditions) for a test item.

Back 109

Test case specification

Front 110

A document specifying a sequence of actions for the execution of a test. Also known as test script or manual test script.

Back 110

Test procedure specification

Front 111

Commonly used to refer to a test procedure specification, especially an automated one.

Back 111

Test script

Front 112

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the specification, either functional or non-functional, of a component or system without reference to its internal structure.

Back 112

Black-box test design technique

Front 113

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the internal structure of a component or system. Another name for white-box test design technique.

Back 113

Structure-based test design technique

Front 114

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on the tester’s experience, knowledge and intuition.

Back 114

Experienced-based test design technique

Front 115

A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute representatives from equivalence partitions. In principle test cases are designed to cover each partition at least once.

Back 115

Equivalence partitioning

Front 116

A portion of an input or output domain for which the behavior of a component or system is assumed to be the same, based on the specification.

Back 116

Equivalence partition

Front 117

An input value or output value which is on the edge of an equivalence partition or at the smallest incremental distance on either side of an edge, for example the minimum or maximum value of a range.

Back 117

Boundary value

Front 118

A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed based on boundary values.

Back 118

Boundary value analysis

Front 119

A table showing combinations of inputs and/or stimuli (causes) with their associated outputs and/or actions (effects), which can be used to design test cases.

Back 119

Decision table

Front 120

A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute the combinations of inputs and/or stimuli (causes) shown in a decision table.

Back 120

Decision table testing

Front 121

A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute valid and invalid state transitions. See also N-switch testing.

Back 121

State transition testing

Front 122

A diagram that depicts the states that a component or system can assume, and shows the events or circumstances that cause and/or result from a change from one state to another.

Back 122

State diagram

Front 123

A grid showing the resulting transitions for each state combined with each possible event, showing both valid and invalid transitions.

Back 123

State table

Front 124

A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute user scenarios.

Back 124

Use case testing

Front 125

Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the internal structure of a component or system.

Back 125

Structure-based test design techniques

Front 126

The degree, expressed as a percentage, to which a specified coverage item has been exercised by a test suite.

Back 126

Coverage (test coverage)

Front 127

An analysis method that determines which parts of the software have been executed (covered) by the test suite and which parts have not been executed

Back 127

Code coverage

Front 128

The percentage of executable statements that have been exercised by a test suite.

Back 128

Statement coverage

Front 129

The percentage of decision outcomes that have been exercised by a test suite.

Back 129

Decision coverage (100% branch coverage & 100% statement coverage)

Front 130

A test design technique where the experience of the tester is used to anticipate what defects might be present in the component or system under test as a result of errors made, and to design tests specifically to expose them.

Back 130

Error guessing

Front 131

An informal test design technique where the tester actively controls the design of the tests as those tests are performed and uses information gained while testing to design new and better tests.

Back 131

Exploratory testing

Front 132

Directed and focused attempt to evaluate the quality, especially reliability, of a test object by attempting to force specific failures to occur.

Back 132

Attack (fault attack)

Front 133

A skilled professional who is involved in the testing of a component or system.

Back 133

Tester

Front 134

The person responsible for project management of testing activities and resources, and evaluation of a test object. The individual who directs, controls, administers, plans and regulates the evaluation of a test object.

Back 134

Test Manager (test leader)

Front 135

A document describing the scope, approach, resources and schedule of intended test activities. It identifies amongst others test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, who will do each task, degree of tester independence, the test environment, the test design techniques and entry and exit criteria to be used, and the rationale for their choice, and any risks requiring contingency planning.

Back 135

Test plan

Front 136

A group of test activities that are organized and managed together. A test level is linked to the responsibilities in a project.

Back 136

Test level

Front 137

The set of generic and specific conditions for permitting a process to go forward with a defined task, e.g. test phase.

Back 137

Entry criteria

Front 138

The set of generic and specific conditions, agreed upon with the stakeholders, for permitting a process to be officially completed.

Back 138

Exit criteria

Front 139

A high-level description of the test levels to be performed and the testing within those levels for an organization or programme (one or more projects).

Back 139

Test strategy

Front 140

The implementation of the test strategy for a specific project. It typically includes the decisions made that follow based on the (test) project’s goal and the risk assessment carried out, starting points regarding the test process, the test design techniques to be applied, exit criteria and test types to be performed.

Back 140

Test approach

Front 141

A test management task that deals with the activities related to periodically checking the status of a test project. Reports are prepared that compare the actuals to that which was planned.

Back 141

Test monitoring

Front 142

The planning, estimating, monitoring and control of test activities.

Back 142

Test management

Front 143

The ratio of the number of failures of a given category to a given unit of measure, e.g. failures per unit of time, failures per number of transactions, failures per number of computer runs.

Back 143

Failure rate

Front 144

The number of defects identified in a component or system divided by the size of the component or system (expressed in standard measurement terms, e.g. lines-ofcode, number of classes or function points).

Back 144

Defect density

Front 145

A document summarizing testing activities and results. It also contains an evaluation of the corresponding test items against exit criteria.

Back 145

Test summary report (test report)

Front 146

A test management task that deals with developing and applying a set of corrective actions to get a test project on track when monitoring shows a deviation from what was planned.

Back 146

Test control

Front 147

A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, control changes to those characteristics, record and report change processing and implementation status, and verify compliance with specified requirements.

Back 147

Configuration management

Front 148

An element of configuration management, consisting of the evaluation, co-ordination, approval or disapproval, and implementation of changes to configuration items after formal establishment of their configuration identification.

Back 148

Configuration control (version control)

Front 149

A factor that could result in future negative consequences; usually expressed as impact and likelihood.

Back 149

Risk

Front 150

A risk directly related to the test object.

Back 150

Product risk

Front 151

An approach to testing to reduce the level of product risks and inform stakeholders on their status, starting in the initial stages of a project. It involves the identification of product risks and their use in guiding the test process.

Back 151

Risk-based testing

Front 152

A risk related to management and control of the (test) project, e.g. lack of staffing, strict deadlines, changing requirements, etc.

Back 152

Project risk

Front 153

A source of a defect such that if it is removed, the occurance of the defect type is decreased or removed.

Back 153

Root cause

Front 154

Recording the details of any incident that occurred, e.g. during testing.

Back 154

Incident logging

Front 155

A document reporting on any event that occurred, e.g. during the testing, which requires investigation.

Back 155

Incident report

Front 156

A document reporting on any flaw in a component or system that can cause the component or system to fail to perform its required function.

Back 156

Defect report (bug report)

Front 157

The number of defects found by a test phase, divided by the number found by that test phase and any other means afterwards.

Back 157

Defect detection percentage (DDP)

Front 158

The level of (business) importance assigned to an item, e.g. defect.

Back 158

Priority

Front 159

The degree of impact that a defect has on the development or operation of a component or system.

Back 159

Severity