ISTQB ISTQB-CT-TAE Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

ISTQB ISTQB-CT-TAE Online Questions & Answers

• Question 131:

  Which of the following is an important success factor for any significant automation project?

  A. The TAA must be designed for testability.
  B. The TAA is self-documenting
  C. The SUT must be designed for testability
  D. The SUT is self-documenting
  C. The SUT must be designed for testability

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  Explanation

  For any significant automation project, a critical success factor is that the System Under Test (SUT) must be designed for testability (Option c)- . Testability refers to the ease with which a system can be tested, which includes aspects like accessibility to test interfaces, observability of outputs, controllability of inputs, and the system's ability to be put into a known state for testing. A SUT designed with testability in mind facilitates the creation and execution of automated tests, enhancing the effectiveness, reliability, and coverage of the Test Automation Architecture (TAa)- . This design consideration directly impacts the efficiency of testing activities, reducing the time and effort required to achieve comprehensive test coverage and identify defects.

• Question 132:

  You have executed an automated test suite for a product that was released into production. Although all the tests passed, there was a major failure in production in an area that was covered well by your automated tests. You have run the automated tests again and one of the tests is now failing and this is directly related to the production defect that was raised. You decide to run the automated test suite again on the same version of the SUT and the test now passes.

  What SHOULD you do now to verify the validity of the automated tests?

  A. Remove the intermittently failing test from the test suite and investigate the reason why the test sometimes passes and sometimes fails.
  B. Check that the production defect that was reported was an actual defect
  C. Run the automated test suite again and if the test now passes - do nothing
  A. Remove the intermittently failing test from the test suite and investigate the reason why the test sometimes passes and sometimes fails.

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  Explanation

  When faced with an intermittently failing test, it is essential to remove it from the test suite to prevent it from affecting the overall test results and reliability. The next step is to conduct a thorough investigation to understand why the test is producing inconsistent results. This could involve examining the test environment, the test data, the timing of the test execution, and any potential race conditions or dependencies that could cause the test to behave differently from one run to another. Understanding and resolving the root cause of the intermittent failure is crucial to ensure the stability and accuracy of the automated test suite.

  References:

  The approach to handling intermittently failing tests is discussed in various ISTQB Test Automation Engineer documents, which emphasize the importance of maintaining the integrity of the test suite and ensuring consistent and reliable test results.

• Question 133:

  Which of the following is an important consideration when evaluating the results from an automated test suite?

  A. When tests fail intermittently, those test results should be ignored until the root cause of the failures can be determined.
  B. Known failures should still fail and known passes should still pass.
  C. All tests, regression and new feature, should be monitored with equal attention.
  D. Verification of functional test results should be the first priority.
  B. Known failures should still fail and known passes should still pass.

• Question 134:

  As a TAE you are evaluating a functional test automation tool that will be for several projects within your organization. The projects require that tool to work effectively and efficiently with SUT's in distributed environments. The test automated tool also needs to interface with other existing test tools (test management tool and defect tracking tool.) The existing test tools subject to planned updates and their interface to the test automated tool may not work property after these updates.

  Which of the following are the two LEAST important concerns related to the evaluation of the test automation in this scenario?

  A. Is the test automation tool able to launch processors and execute test cases on multiple machines in different environments?
  B. the test automation tool support a licensing scheme that allows accessing different sets?
  C. the test automation tool have a large feature set, but only part of the features will be sets?
  D. Do the release notes for the planned updates on existing specify the impacts on their interfaces to other tools?
  E. the test automation tool need to install specific libraries that could impact the SUT?
  B. the test automation tool support a licensing scheme that allows accessing different sets?
  C. the test automation tool have a large feature set, but only part of the features will be sets?

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  Explanation

  B. The licensing scheme that allows accessing different sets is not a key concern in this scenario because the primary requirements focus on technical capabilities such as distributed execution and integration with other tools. Licensing flexibility does not directly impact the effectiveness, efficiency, or robustness of the test automation solution in the given context.

  C. Having a large feature set where only part of the features will be used is also not a critical concern. This relates more to cost optimization or tool selection efficiency rather than the core functional requirements. It does not significantly affect the tool's ability to operate in distributed environments or to integrate reliably with other systems.

  A. The ability to launch processes and execute test cases across multiple machines is essential because the projects explicitly require support for distributed environments. This is a key evaluation criterion.

  D. The impact of planned updates on interfaces to other tools is critical, as the scenario highlights the risk of integration issues due to changes in existing test tools. This directly affects system stability and maintainability.

  E. The need to install specific libraries that could impact the SUT is also an important concern, as it may interfere with the system under test and compromise test validity or environment stability. Conclusion: B and C are the least important concerns in this scenario.

• Question 135:

  Consider a TAS associated to dynamically changing software frequent releases. Your goal is to determine the amount of effort required to maintain the automated tests of the regression test suite for each new release of the SUT.

  What is the MOST important metric to collect to achieve your goal?

  A. The code coverage achieved with the automated tests, for each new release of the SUT
  B. The number of automated tests which fail because of a single software defect, for each new release of the SUT
  C. The time it takes to execute all the automated tests, for each new release of the SUT.
  D. The number of automated tests requiring maintenance, for each new release of the SUT.
  D. The number of automated tests requiring maintenance, for each new release of the SUT.

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  Explanation

  The most crucial metric to collect in order to determine the maintenance effort for automated tests in a regression test suite, especially for a system under test (SUT) that undergoes frequent releases, is the number of automated tests requiring maintenance. This metric directly reflects the impact of changes in the SUT on the test suite. High maintenance needs can indicate that the automated tests are tightly coupled to the SUT, which may require a redesign of the test automation strategy to improve maintainability and reduce future effort.

  References:

  The ISTQB Test Automation Engineer syllabus emphasizes the importance of metrics in monitoring the effectiveness of test automation. It specifically mentions the need to manage and optimize testing assets to facilitate maintainability, which aligns with the concept of measuring the number of tests requiring maintenance.

• Question 136:

  A TAS has been installed successfully in the target environment. Preliminary checks on configuration, installation, and setup have already passed. You now need to verify the correct behavior of the automated test suite itself.

  Which activity is LEAST relevant at this point?

  A. Check that expected results are defined for the automated tests
  B. Check that automated tests produce repeatable outcomes
  C. Check that preconditions and postconditions are handled correctly
  D. Check again whether the TAS can be installed in the environment
  D. Check again whether the TAS can be installed in the environment

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  Explanation

  Option D is correct because installation in the target environment has already been proven, so repeating that check does not directly support verifying the suite's behavioral correctness.

  Option A is incorrect because expected results are essential for determining whether automated tests behave correctly.

  Option B is incorrect because repeatability is a key property of a reliable automated suite.

  Option C is incorrect because correct handling of preconditions and postconditions directly affects test consistency and validity.

• Question 137:

  What is the PRIMARY advantage of using abstraction in the TAA?

  A. It makes it more flexible for future reuse and improvements
  B. It requires a higher skill level to implement
  C. It ensures that any scripting method will be supported
  D. It improves the performance of the TAS
  A. It makes it more flexible for future reuse and improvements

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  Explanation

  Abstraction in Test Automation Architecture (TAa)- is primarily advantageous because it allows for flexibility in the test automation framework, making it easier to reuse and improve upon. Abstraction helps in encapsulating the complexity of tests, which means changes in the system under test (SUT) may require minimal changes in the test scripts themselves. This level of abstraction also supports the scalability of the test automation, allowing for the addition of new tests or features with less effort.

  References:

  The ISTQB Test Automation Engineer documents highlight the importance of abstraction in creating a maintainable and scalable test automation framework. The principles of abstraction align with the goals of test automation, which include efficiency, reusability, and ease of maintenance.

• Question 138:

  Because an older product has suddenly found new popularity, management wants to update it to work with more modem operating systems and possibly add some new features. The previously used TAS is still available. You need a TAS that will work with the new SUT.

  Which of the following is the most likely risk you will encounter and the mitigation strategy you should implement?

  A. There may not be anyone in the organization with the knowledge to update the existing TAS so one of the existing test analysts will have to learn the language and syntax.
  B. The existing TAS may not be able to offer a rich set of management reporting options, requiring the hiring of a junior test manager to create desired reports manually.
  C. A new or updated TAS may not provide sufficient capabilities, necessitating additional manual testing.
  D. The existing test suite may not function on the updated TAS, requiring updates to the TAS or the tests.
  D. The existing test suite may not function on the updated TAS, requiring updates to the TAS or the tests.

• Question 139:

  You have been using a TAA to create a TAS for your project. You have found that the TAA report mechanism is too rigid for your use, so you created a more generic and flexible report engine.

  What should you do with this new report mechanism?

  A. Use it only in your TAS.
  B. Update all TAS's under your control to use the new report engine.
  C. Port it back to the TAA so it is available for any TAS.
  D. You should not have modified any aspect of the TAA when creating the TAS so you should not use it.
  C. Port it back to the TAA so it is available for any TAS.

• Question 140:

  If you are tracking the frequency that a test automation code reports a defect that is not really a defect, what metric are you gathering?

  A. Tool scripting metrics
  B. Automation code defect density
  C. Trend metrics
  D. The number of false-fail results
  D. The number of false-fail results

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  Explanation

  Tracking the frequency of test automation code reporting defects that are not actual defects in the System Under Test (SUT) is known as measuring the number of false-fail results (Option d)- . This metric is crucial in evaluating the precision and reliability of the Test Automation Solution (TAS). False-fail results can lead to unnecessary investigation work, reducing the efficiency of the testing process and potentially eroding trust in the automation. By monitoring and minimizing false-fails, a Test Automation Engineer (TAe)- can enhance the TAS's effectiveness, ensuring that it accurately reflects the state of the SUT and provides valuable feedback to the development team. This metric directly impacts the credibility and utility of automated testing by indicating how often the automation incorrectly flags a pass condition as a fail, thereby necessitating refinement of the automation code or test environment configurations to reduce these occurrences.