ISTQB Static Testing and Reviews 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which statement BEST describes the difference between an inspection and a technical review?
- Inspections are informal while technical reviews follow a strict process
- Inspections use a trained moderator and formal metrics, while technical reviews focus on technical correctness with less formality (Correct answer)
- Technical reviews are led by the author, while inspections have no defined roles
- Inspections only apply to code, while technical reviews apply to all work products
Correct answer: Inspections use a trained moderator and formal metrics, while technical reviews focus on technical correctness with less formality
Inspections are the most formal type with defined roles and metrics collection, while technical reviews focus on technical correctness with moderate formality.
Question 2: What does 'perspective-based reading' as a review technique require reviewers to do?
- Read the document from the author's perspective to understand intent
- Adopt a specific stakeholder role (e.g., tester, user) when reading the document (Correct answer)
- Focus only on grammatical and spelling errors in the document
- Review only sections assigned by the moderator randomly
Correct answer: Adopt a specific stakeholder role (e.g., tester, user) when reading the document
Perspective-based reading has each reviewer simulate a different stakeholder's viewpoint to uncover defects relevant to that role.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a typical exit criterion for a formal review?
- All identified defects have been logged
- A defined percentage of the work product has been covered
- All reviewers agree the product is defect-free (Correct answer)
- The number of open major defects is below a defined threshold
Correct answer: All reviewers agree the product is defect-free
Requiring all reviewers to agree the product is defect-free is an impractical and untypical exit criterion; reviews aim to find defects, not prove their absence.
Question 4: In static testing, what is meant by 'cognitive bias' as a potential challenge during reviews?
- The tendency of tools to flag false positives in static analysis
- The tendency of reviewers to unconsciously overlook defects due to assumptions or familiarity (Correct answer)
- The delay caused by scheduling conflicts among review participants
- The preference for reviewing code over reviewing requirements documents
Correct answer: The tendency of reviewers to unconsciously overlook defects due to assumptions or familiarity
Cognitive bias can cause reviewers to miss defects because they unconsciously fill in gaps or assume correctness based on familiarity with the author's intent.
Question 5: A project team conducts a review where participants receive the document 24 hours in advance and each person independently identifies defects before the meeting. Which review phase does the independent preparation represent?
- Review planning
- Review initiation
- Individual review (preparation) (Correct answer)
- Issue communication and analysis
Correct answer: Individual review (preparation)
Individual review or preparation is the phase where each reviewer independently examines the work product before the group meeting.
Question 6: Which metric is MOST relevant for evaluating the effectiveness of a formal inspection?
- Number of test cases executed after the inspection
- Defect detection efficiency (DDE) — percentage of defects found during the review (Correct answer)
- Lines of code reviewed per hour by each participant
- Number of meetings held during the review process
Correct answer: Defect detection efficiency (DDE) — percentage of defects found during the review
Defect detection efficiency measures what percentage of all known defects were caught during the review, directly reflecting review effectiveness.
Question 7: Which work product type is LEAST suitable for static testing via peer review?
- Requirements specification
- System architecture document
- Runtime memory dump from a crashed application (Correct answer)
- Test plan
Correct answer: Runtime memory dump from a crashed application
A runtime memory dump is a dynamic artifact produced during execution and is not a suitable candidate for static peer review.
ISTQB Static Testing and Reviews 3
Which statement BEST describes the difference between an inspection and a technical review?