ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level v4.0.1 Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of the ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) v4.0.1 syllabus.

Software Testing

A set of activities to discover defects and evaluate the quality of software work products.

Test Objects

Work products that are being tested.

Verification

The process of checking whether the system meets specified requirements.

Validation

The process of checking whether the system meets users’ and other stakeholders’ needs in its operational environment.

Debugging

The process of finding, analyzing, and eliminating the causes of failures (defects) in software.

Quality Assurance (QA)

A process-oriented, preventive approach that focuses on the implementation and improvement of processes.

Defect (Fault, Bug)

An imperfection in a work product that can be found in documentation, source code, or supporting work products.

Failure

An event in which a system or component does not perform its required function correctly.

Root Cause

A fundamental reason for the occurrence of a problem, such as a situation that leads to an error.

7 Testing Principles

General guidelines including: testing shows presence of defects, exhaustive testing is impossible, early testing saves time, defects cluster together, tests wear out, testing is context dependent, and the absence-of-defects fallacy.

Test Process

A common set of test activities tailored to a given situation, typically involving planning, monitoring and control, analysis, design, implementation, execution, and completion.

Testware

Work products produced from test activities, such as test plans, test cases, test scripts, and test results.

Traceability

Establishing and maintaining links throughout the test process between test basis elements, testware, test results, and defects.

Whole Team Approach

A practice where any team member with the necessary skills can perform any task, and everyone is responsible for quality.

Shift Left

An approach suggesting testing should be performed earlier in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to reduce costs and improve quality.

Component Testing

A test level that focuses on testing components in isolation, also known as unit testing.

System Testing

A test level that focuses on the overall behavior and capabilities of an entire system or product.

Acceptance Testing

A test level focused on validation and demonstrating readiness for deployment, demonstrating that the system fulfills user business needs.

Functional Testing

Evaluating 'what' the system should do by checking functional completeness, correctness, and appropriateness.

Non-functional Testing

Evaluating 'how well the system behaves,' checking characteristics like performance efficiency, usability, security, and reliability.

Confirmation Testing

Testing that confirms an original defect has been successfully fixed.

Regression Testing

Testing to confirm that no adverse consequences or new defects have been caused by a change to the system.

Static Testing

The manual examination of work products (reviews) or tool-driven evaluation (static analysis) without executing the code.

Equivalence Partitioning (EP)

A black-box technique that divides data into partitions based on the expectation that all elements in a partition are processed in the same way.

Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)

A black-box technique based on exercising the boundaries of ordered equivalence partitions.

Decision Table Testing

A black-box technique used to document complex logic and record how different combinations of conditions result in different outcomes.

State Transition Testing

A black-box technique that models system behavior by showing possible states and the valid events that initiate transitions.

Statement Testing

A white-box technique where coverage items are executable statements in the code.

Branch Testing

A white-box technique where coverage items are unconditional and conditional transfers of control (branches) in the source code.

Error Guessing

An experience-based technique used to anticipate the occurrence of errors, defects, and failures based on the tester’s knowledge.

Exploratory Testing

A technique where tests are simultaneously designed, executed, and evaluated while the tester learns about the test object.

Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD)

A test-first approach where test cases are created prior to implementing a user story, based on acceptance criteria.

Definition of Ready

The entry criteria a user story must fulfill to start development and/or testing activities in Agile development.

Definition of Done

The exit criteria defining a team’s objective metrics for a releasable item in Agile development.

Three-point Estimation

An expert-based technique where the estimate $E$ is calculated as $E = \frac{a + 4 \times m + b}{6}$ using optimistic ($a$), likely ($m$), and pessimistic ($b$) values.

Test Pyramid

A model showing that different test levels support different levels of isolation and granularity, favoring many fast, isolated tests at lower layers.

Product Risk

Risks related to product quality characteristics, such as missing functionality, runtime errors, or security vulnerabilities.

Project Risk

Risks related to the management and control of the project, such as delivery delays, staff shortages, or scope creep.

Configuration Management

The discipline for identifying, controlling, and tracking work products as configuration items throughout the test process.

Defect Report

A document logged during testing to provide information about an observed failure, including its summary, context, severity, and steps to reproduce.