Certified Software Quality Engineer Flashcards

Which risk management activity involves estimating the likelihood and impact of identified risks?

Answer: Risk quantification

Risk quantification assesses each identified risk by estimating its probability of occurrence and the magnitude of its potential impact on the project.

A software team discovers a defect during code inspection that would have caused a security vulnerability. According to the Cost of Quality model, this represents which type of cost?

Answer: Appraisal cost

Inspection is an appraisal activity; the cost of conducting the inspection and finding the defect before release is classified as an appraisal cost.

What is the key characteristic of a 'use case' in software requirements documentation?

Answer: It captures the functional interactions between an actor and the system to achieve a goal

A use case describes how an actor (user or external system) interacts with the software system to accomplish a specific functional goal.

Which software process model is most appropriate when requirements are well-understood and unlikely to change significantly?

Answer: Waterfall model

The Waterfall model works best for projects with stable, well-defined requirements since it is sequential and does not easily accommodate late-stage changes.

In Fagan inspections, which role is responsible for moderating the inspection meeting and ensuring the process is followed correctly?

Answer: Moderator

The moderator leads the Fagan inspection meeting, ensures procedures are followed, manages the pace, and is responsible for the overall inspection process quality.

What does McCabe's cyclomatic complexity metric primarily measure in software?

Answer: The number of linearly independent paths through a program's source code

Cyclomatic complexity (V(G) = E - N + 2P) counts the number of independent execution paths, which correlates with testing effort and defect potential.

Which of the following is a key principle of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3?

Answer: Processes are characterized and understood at the organizational level

CMMI Level 3 (Defined) requires that processes be characterized, understood, and proactively managed at the organizational level using standard processes.