iSQI CTFL-AT - Certified Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester

 According to the ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, one of the key principles of agile testing is that testers are integrated into the agile team and work closely with developers and other stakeholders. However, this does not mean that testers lose their independence or objectivity. Testers should still be able to provide an unbiased view of the quality of the software and challenge the assumptions and decisions made by the team. Therefore, option C is the best way for a test team to keep its independence when working in an agile development environment, as it allows testers to be part of the agile team, but also report to a different manager than the developers, who can support their professional development and ensure their independence. Option A is not a good way to keep independence, as it limits the transparency and collaboration between testers and developers, which are essential for agile testing. Option B is also not a good way to keep independence, as it creates a physical and organizational barrier between the test automation team and the agile development team, which can hinder communication and feedback. Option D is also not a good way to keep independence, as it creates an inconsistency and imbalance between the testers who are co-located with the agile development team and those who are not, which can affect the quality and efficiency of the testing process. References: ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 1.2.1, page 91; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 1.2.2, page 101; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.1.1, page 141; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.2.1, page 161; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.2.2, page 171.

Acceptance test criteria are the conditions that a user story must satisfy to be accepted by the customer or the stakeholder. They are usually derived from the user story and its acceptance scenarios, and they should cover the functional and non-functional requirements of the user story. Acceptance test criteria should be clear, concise, testable, and agreed upon by the team and the customer or the stakeholder.

In this case, the user story describes the business rule for approving a loan request based on the customer’s income, repayment history, and loan amount. The user story also specifies the roles of the customer assistant and the bank manager in the process. Therefore, the acceptance test criteria should verify that the user story is implemented correctly and that the system behaves as expected for different scenarios and inputs.

The following test cases can be treated as acceptance test criteria for the above user story:

As a customer assistant I can log in to the system and check the history of the customer account for the last year. This test case verifies that the customer assistant can access the system and view the customer’s income information, which is one of the factors for approving the loan request.

As a customer assistant I can log in to the system and check the history of the customer debts and repayments. This test case verifies that the customer assistant can access the system and view the customer’s repayment history, which is another factor for approving the loan request.

As a bank manager I can log in to the system and receive the information of all requests waiting for approval. This test case verifies that the bank manager can access the system and see the list of loan requests that have been prepared by the customer assistant, and that the system provides the necessary information for each request.

As a bank manager I can log in to the system and decide whether to approve a loan for a customer. This test case verifies that the bank manager can access the system and perform the approval action for a loan request, and that the system applies the business rule correctly and updates the status of the request accordingly.

The following test cases cannot be treated as acceptance test criteria for the above user story:

As a customer assistant I can log in to the system and change my password. This test case is not related to the user story, as it does not verify any of the functional or non-functional requirements of the user story. It is a generic test case that applies to any user of the system, not specific to the customer assistant role or the loan approval process.

As a bank manager I can log in to the system within 10 seconds. This test case is not related to the user story, as it does not verify any of the functional or non-functional requirements of the user story. It is a performance test case that applies to any user of the system, not specific to the bank manager role or the loan approval process.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

FromCTFL-AT Syllabus v4.0, Section 4.3Test Automation and Continuous Integration, and the ISTQB Glossary:

"Test automation involves using software to execute tests, compare actual outcomes to expected outcomes, and report the results automatically."

Thus,Option Acorrectly definestest execution automation.

Option Bdescribessession-based testing, not automation.

Option CdescribesTest-Driven Development (TDD).

Option Drefers totest execution, not specifically automation.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

FromCTFL-AT Syllabus v4.0, Section 2.2Release and Iteration Planning:

"During early phases like Sprint Zero, testers collaborate with the team to identify the product backlog, define high-level test strategies, and contribute to the overall planning and architecture discussions."

Therefore,Option Ais correct — testerscollaborate from the beginning, not as isolated contributors.

Option BandDsuggestindividual work, which isagainst Agile principles.

Option Cis incorrect — the backlog items committed for Sprint 1 are determined duringSprint Planning, not in Sprint Zero.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

FromISTQB Glossary (also referenced in CTFL-AT):

"Configuration management is 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."

Thus,Option Dis the formal and accurate definition ofConfiguration Management.

Option Adescribestest control, not configuration management.

Option Brefers tosession-based testing, unrelated to configuration management.

Option Crefers tocombinatorial test design, not configuration control.

Test automation is essential for agile projects, as it enables fast and frequent feedback on the quality of the product. Without test automation, it would be very difficult to ensure high quality in an agile project, as manual testing would be too slow and costly to keep up with the pace of development12. Automated acceptance tests are one of the key types of test automation on agile projects, as they verify that the user stories are implemented correctly and that the product meets the customer’s expectations. Automated acceptance tests are run regularly as part of the continuous integration full system build, and the results provide feedback on the overall product quality12. Therefore, statements 2 and 5 are correct with regards to test automation on agile projects. References: 1: ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Section 3.3.1, Test Automation1; 2: ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Section 3.3.1, Test Automation2

Risk-based testing fits well in Agile development processes, as risks are easy to identify when the work is divided into user stories. User stories are short descriptions of features or functionalities that are valuable to the customers or users. They help to define the scope and priority of the work in each iteration. By breaking down the work into user stories, the Agile team can identify the potential risks associated with each story, such as technical complexity, business criticality, or user feedback. The team can then prioritize the testing effort based on the risk level of each story, ensuring that the most important and risky features are tested first and thoroughly. Risk-based testing also helps to optimize the testing time and resources, as the team can focus on testing the most relevant aspects of the software, rather than testing everything equally. References: ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Section 2.3.2, page 181; ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Sample Exam Questions, Question 2.3.2-1, page 92

Continuous integration is a practice of integrating code changes frequently and automatically into a shared repository, and running automated tests to verify the integration. Continuous integration can introduce some risks to the testing process, such as:

Testers sometimes have too many builds to test, which reduces the quality of testing. This can happen when the code changes are too frequent or too large, and the testers do not have enough time or resources to test each build thoroughly. This can lead to missed defects, incomplete test coverage, and reduced confidence in the product quality.

Testers sometimes have to deal with unstable or broken builds, which affects the testability of the product. This can happen when the code changes introduce errors or conflicts that cause the build to fail or malfunction. This can waste the testers’ time and effort, and delay the feedback cycle.

Testers sometimes have to cope with changing requirements and priorities, which affects the test planning and execution. This can happen when the stakeholders or customers provide new or modified requirements or feedback during the development cycle. This can require the testers to adapt their test strategy, test cases, and test data accordingly, and to balance the testing of new features and regression testing of existing features. References: ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus1, Section 2.2.3, page 14; ISTQB® Glossary of Testing Terms2, version 4.0, page 15.

An Agile task board is a visual framework to display and sync up on the tasks moving between production steps. It is usually applied to the two most popular Agile development frameworks — Kanban and Scrum. Used by software developers and project managers, an Agile board helps manage workloads in a flexible, transparent, and iterative way1. An Agile task board provides a detailed visual representation of the whole team’s status, showing which tasks remain to be started, which are in progress, and which are done. It also helps to track the progress of the current sprint, identify bottlenecks, and facilitate collaboration and communication among team members2. References:

: ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Version 2014, Section 2.1.1

: ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Agile Testing Foundations, Chapter 2, Section 2.1.1

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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

From theCTFL-AT Syllabus v4.0, Section 4.2Continuous Integration, it states:

"Continuous integration involves integrating code into a shared repository several times a day. Each integration is verified by an automated build and automated tests."

Hence,Option D—at least once a day— correctly reflects best practice in continuous integration.

Option A(once per iteration) andB,Care far too infrequent to meet the goals of CI.

The objective is to detect integration issuesearly and often, which is only achievable throughdaily (or more frequent)integrations.