Test Design & Development Flashcards
7 cards from real Mettl practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Test Design & Development flashcards as text
In test design, what is a 'test oracle'?
Answer: A mechanism or source of information used to determine whether the actual outcome is correct
A test oracle provides the expected results against which actual system outputs are compared to determine pass or fail.
Which approach is most suitable for designing tests for a system with complex business rules involving multiple conditions and actions?
Answer: Decision Table Testing
Decision Table Testing systematically handles complex logical combinations of conditions and their resulting actions, ensuring all rule combinations are considered.
What does 'test independence' mean in the context of test design?
Answer: Tests do not rely on the outcome or state of other tests, ensuring reliable and repeatable results
Test independence ensures that test results are not influenced by execution order or the state left by other tests, making failures easier to isolate.
What is 'defect clustering' and how should it influence test design?
Answer: The observation that most defects are concentrated in a few modules, so test effort should be focused there
Defect clustering (Pareto Principle) shows ~80% of defects come from ~20% of modules, guiding testers to apply deeper testing in high-risk areas.
When designing tests for an API endpoint, which input category is MOST important to cover beyond happy path tests?
Answer: Invalid data types, missing required fields, and out-of-range values
API testing must validate how the endpoint handles malformed, missing, and boundary-violating inputs to ensure robustness and security.
Which of the following best describes 'test data management' in test design?
Answer: The process of planning, creating, and maintaining data needed to execute test cases accurately
Test data management ensures that the right data exists in the right state for each test case, including setup, execution, and teardown phases.
What is the purpose of a 'test condition' in the context of test design?
Answer: An item or event that can be verified by one or more test cases to confirm system behavior
A test condition identifies what aspect of the component or system needs to be exercised and verified through testing.