ISTQB Last-Minute Revision

30 quick revision notes for ISTQB

1. CTFL v4.0 exam has 40 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, pass mark 26 out of 40, which is 65 percent, with no negative marking.
2. Non-native language candidates usually get 25 percent extra time, making the exam 75 minutes long.
3. The seven principles include 'tests wear out', the v4.0 name for the earlier pesticide paradox.
4. An error is a human mistake, a defect is the flaw it creates, and a failure is the wrong behaviour seen during execution.
5. Testing shows the presence of defects, never their absence, and exhaustive testing is impossible except in trivial cases.
6. The test process has seven activity groups: planning, monitoring and control, analysis, design, implementation, execution and completion.
7. Test analysis decides what to test by defining test conditions, and test design decides how to test by creating test cases.
8. Testing is quality control, which is product-oriented and corrective; quality assurance is process-oriented and preventive.
9. The five test levels are component, component integration, system, system integration and acceptance testing.
10. Confirmation testing checks that a defect is fixed, while regression testing checks that changes did not break anything else.
11. Maintenance testing is triggered by modifications, environment upgrades or migrations, and retirement of a system.
12. TDD, ATDD and BDD are test-first approaches; BDD expresses behaviour as Given, When, Then scenarios.
13. Shift-left means testing earlier, such as reviewing requirements and running static analysis before dynamic testing.
14. The review process: planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting.
15. Review types from least to most formal are informal review, walkthrough, technical review and inspection.
16. In an inspection the author cannot act as review leader or scribe, and metrics are collected to improve processes.
17. Equivalence partitioning needs one test per partition; Each Choice coverage needs as many tests as the largest partition set.
18. For a range 1 to 100, 2-value BVA uses 0, 1, 100 and 101; 3-value BVA adds 2 and 99.
19. A full decision table with n Boolean conditions has 2 to the power n columns before minimisation.
20. Valid transitions coverage is also called 0-switch coverage, and all transitions coverage also tests invalid transitions.
21. 100 percent branch coverage guarantees 100 percent statement coverage, but 100 percent statement coverage does not guarantee full branch coverage.
22. White-box testing cannot find omissions, meaning requirements that were never implemented in code.
23. Exploratory testing is often session-based with a time box, a test charter and a debrief.
24. Good user stories follow INVEST and the 3 Cs: card, conversation and confirmation.
25. Three-point estimate E equals (a plus 4m plus b) divided by 6, and standard deviation equals (b minus a) divided by 6.
26. Risk level is determined by likelihood and impact; project risks affect the project, product risks affect product quality.
27. Risk responses include mitigation by testing, risk acceptance, risk transfer to another party and contingency plans for when risks occur.
28. The test pyramid recommends many fast unit tests at the base and few slow end-to-end tests at the top.
29. Severity is the impact of a defect on the system, while priority is the business urgency to fix it.
30. Configuration management ensures every test item and testware version is uniquely identified, version controlled and traceable.

Night-before checklist

• Revise your saved questions on this page once, aloud.
• Read the quick notes and mark any you cannot explain in one line.
• Rehearse a two-minute self-introduction and two project stories.
• Keep CV, ID, laptop charger and interview link ready; sleep on time.