Black-Box Test Design Flashcards
7 cards from real ISTQB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Black-Box Test Design flashcards as text
A vending machine dispenses items only when the balance equals or exceeds the price and an item is selected. This behavior is BEST modeled by which technique?
Answer: Decision table testing
Decision table testing handles combinations of conditions (sufficient balance AND item selected) that jointly determine the outcome.
Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a state transition table compared to a state diagram?
Answer: It provides a tabular view that makes missing transitions easier to identify
A state transition table is a tabular representation that makes incomplete or missing transitions (impossible combinations) explicit and easier to identify.
A tester discovers that a system behaves correctly for inputs within valid partitions but crashes for a value of 0 that was not explicitly identified as a boundary. What does this suggest?
Answer: The test design missed an invalid equivalence class or boundary
The crash reveals that 0 was an unconsidered boundary or invalid partition that should have been included in the test design.
Which term describes a pair of states connected by a transition in a state machine, used as the basis for 1-switch coverage?
Answer: Transition pair
1-switch coverage requires exercising all valid sequences of two consecutive transitions (transition pairs) through intermediate states.
When combining black-box techniques, which combination is MOST commonly used to test a numeric input field with distinct behavioral ranges?
Answer: Equivalence partitioning + boundary value analysis
EP identifies the distinct valid and invalid ranges, and BVA then tests the critical boundary values within and between those ranges.
A decision table test designer collapses two rule columns because they produce the same action regardless of one condition's value. What is this called?
Answer: Rule consolidation using don't-care conditions
When a condition's value does not affect the outcome, it is marked as a don't-care (–), allowing two columns to be merged into one.
In ISTQB terminology, which black-box technique derives test cases from the ways users interact with the system to accomplish their objectives?
Answer: Use case testing
Use case testing derives test cases from use cases, which describe the sequences of interactions between actors and the system to achieve goals.