CAST Agile and Iterative Testing 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In an Agile project, when should testers ideally begin their involvement?
- After development is complete
- During sprint planning and requirement refinement (Correct answer)
- Only when a build is handed off for testing
- At the end of each sprint
Correct answer: During sprint planning and requirement refinement
Testers in Agile should participate from sprint planning onward so they can clarify acceptance criteria and prepare tests early.
Question 2: Which Agile testing quadrant focuses on business-facing tests that critique the product, such as performance and security testing?
- Quadrant 1 (technology-facing, support team)
- Quadrant 2 (business-facing, support team)
- Quadrant 3 (business-facing, critique product)
- Quadrant 4 (technology-facing, critique product) (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Quadrant 4 (technology-facing, critique product)
Quadrant 4 covers non-functional tests like performance, security, and reliability testing that are technology-facing and critique the product.
Question 3: What is a 'Definition of Done' (DoD) in Agile testing?
- A list of defects resolved in a sprint
- A checklist of criteria that must be met before a user story is considered complete (Correct answer)
- The final acceptance sign-off from the product owner
- A document describing test case completion rates
Correct answer: A checklist of criteria that must be met before a user story is considered complete
The Definition of Done is a shared checklist of quality criteria—including testing requirements—that a story must satisfy to be considered complete.
Question 4: In Scrum, what is the primary purpose of a sprint retrospective from a testing perspective?
- To demonstrate new features to stakeholders
- To identify and plan tests for the next sprint
- To reflect on the team's testing process and improve it (Correct answer)
- To measure defect density for the sprint
Correct answer: To reflect on the team's testing process and improve it
The sprint retrospective is the team's opportunity to inspect their process, including testing practices, and adapt to improve future sprints.
Question 5: Which practice best describes 'test-first' development in an Agile context?
- Running regression tests before writing code
- Writing automated tests before writing the production code they validate (Correct answer)
- Performing exploratory testing at the start of each sprint
- Prioritizing high-risk tests in the backlog
Correct answer: Writing automated tests before writing the production code they validate
Test-Driven Development (TDD) is the primary 'test-first' practice where failing tests are written before production code, guiding implementation.
Question 6: What does 'continuous testing' mean in a DevOps or Agile pipeline?
- Running manual tests around the clock
- Executing automated tests at every stage of the delivery pipeline to provide rapid feedback (Correct answer)
- Continuously adding new test cases to the backlog
- Testing each feature independently without integration
Correct answer: Executing automated tests at every stage of the delivery pipeline to provide rapid feedback
Continuous testing integrates automated tests into the CI/CD pipeline so that every code change triggers immediate quality feedback.
Question 7: In Agile, who is ultimately responsible for the quality of the product?
- The dedicated QA team only
- The product owner
- The Scrum master
- The entire cross-functional team (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The entire cross-functional team
Agile places quality responsibility on the whole team—developers, testers, and the product owner collaborate to build quality in from the start.
CAST Agile and Iterative Testing 1
In an Agile project, when should testers ideally begin their involvement?