ISTQB STQB-Agile-Public Practice Test - Questions Answers, Page 2

The 3C concept in Agile development refers to Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. This concept emphasizes the collaborative and iterative nature of defining user stories and their acceptance criteria in Agile projects. In the context of the provided user story, 'As a customer, I want to subscribe to the mailing list so that I can receive the latest deal in an email,' option A is correct. The conversation should include the acceptance criteria discussion, which is an integral part of the 3C concept.

The Card represents the user story itself, which is a brief statement describing a feature or requirement from the user's perspective. The Conversation involves discussions between the development team and the product owner (or other stakeholders) to clarify the details and ensure a mutual understanding of the user story. This conversation is crucial for exploring the user story's implications, discussing potential implementation approaches, and agreeing on the acceptance criteria that define when the story is considered complete and satisfactory.

Confirmation involves agreeing on and documenting the acceptance criteria that emerge from the conversation. These criteria serve as a checklist to ensure that the implemented feature meets the user's needs and expectations as defined in the user story.

Option A is the verified answer because it accurately reflects the importance of including acceptance criteria discussions in the conversation phase of the 3C concept. This practice aligns with Agile principles by ensuring clarity, shared understanding, and a focus on delivering value to the customer.

The Agile Manifesto, a foundational document for Agile development, outlines four core values intended to guide Agile practices. Option C, 'Processes and tools over individuals and interactions,' is not a statement of value from the Agile Manifesto. In fact, the correct value stated in the Agile Manifesto is the opposite: 'Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.'

The Agile Manifesto values are as follows:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

These values emphasize the importance of people, collaboration, adaptability, and the delivery of functional software in Agile development. The manifesto suggests that while processes, tools, documentation, contracts, and plans have their place, they should not overshadow the importance of human elements, effective collaboration, and responsiveness to change.

Option C is the verified answer because it misrepresents the Agile Manifesto's values by prioritizing processes and tools over individuals and interactions, which contradicts the manifesto's emphasis on the latter. This understanding is crucial for implementing Agile practices that align with the manifesto's intent to foster more adaptive, people-oriented, and customer-focused approaches to software development.

The acceptance criteria for a sprint focused on improving the performance of a system, like the one described for Sprint 5, typically include ensuring that the system meets specific performance benchmarks and that the functionality implemented in previous sprints continues to work as expected. Therefore, the most relevant acceptance criteria for such a sprint would be:

iii) '100% of the existing regression test suite has passed.' This criterion ensures that the new performance enhancements have not adversely affected the existing functionalities of the system. It's a common practice in agile projects to maintain the integrity and quality of the system by running regression tests. This is supported by the notion that continuous testing and quality assurance are integral components of agile methodologies, ensuring that each increment of the project maintains and improves the quality of the product (Source: Agile Project Management methodologies).

iv) 'System is responding in less than 3 seconds, 90% of the time.' This criterion directly addresses the goal of the sprint, which is to increase the performance of the system. Setting a specific target for response times is a quantifiable and testable way to measure the improvement in performance. This aligns with agile principles, which emphasize delivering valuable, working software and encourage adaptive planning and continuous improvement. Performance targets like these help the team focus on delivering specific, valuable improvements to the system (Source: Principles behind the Agile Manifesto).

Options i) and v) are less relevant to the specific focus of Sprint 5, which is on performance improvement, and more about user roles and software compatibility, which are not directly tied to the performance objectives of the sprint. Therefore, options iii) and iv) constitute the most appropriate acceptance criteria for Sprint 5, focusing on ensuring that the system's performance meets the set benchmarks without compromising existing functionalities.

The acceptance test criteria for the user story should ensure that the system can effectively evaluate loan requests based on the specified conditions. Criteria i) and ii) allow the customer assistant to access and verify customer account history and repayment behaviors, which are essential for assessing loan eligibility as per the user story. Criteria iv) and v) enable the bank manager to review and make decisions on loan requests, aligning with the user story's stipulation that the bank manager is responsible for loan approvals. These criteria ensure the system supports both the customer assistant's preparatory role and the bank manager's decision-making role in the loan approval process.

The Test Pyramid is a concept that emphasizes the importance of incorporating testing early and throughout the software development cycle rather than leaving it until the end. This approach aligns with agile methodologies, which advocate for continuous integration and testing to identify and fix issues promptly, thereby improving the quality of the software and reducing the time and cost associated with late-stage testing.

Agile software development is characterized by its iterative and incremental approach, where development is conducted in cycles, and the work is divided into small, manageable chunks known as iterations or sprints. This approach allows for frequent reassessment of the project's direction, making it easier to incorporate changes and adapt to new information. Self-organizing, cross-functional teams are a hallmark of agile methodologies, emphasizing collaboration, flexibility, and team empowerment. This definition captures the essence of agile as described in various agile methodologies and the Agile Manifesto.

Exploratory testing in an agile environment involves the creative and intuitive testing of software without the constraints of predefined test cases. Time-boxed sessions, typically not exceeding 2 hours, are used to maintain focus and efficiency. Test charters guide these sessions, providing direction while still allowing for flexibility and adaptability in testing approaches. This method leverages the skills and experience of testers to uncover issues that might not be identified through traditional scripted testing, aligning with the agile emphasis on individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

In Agile projects, the integration of development and testing activities involves close collaboration between developers and testers, but it does not typically involve testers replacing developers in writing unit test automation scripts. Agile methodologies, such as Scrum and XP (Extreme Programming), encourage developers to write their own unit tests as part of the Test-Driven Development (TDD) process. Testers often focus on higher-level testing activities, such as acceptance testing and exploratory testing, and may work alongside developers to enhance test coverage and effectiveness. The incorrect statement about testers replacing developers in writing unit test automation scripts contradicts the Agile principle of developers being responsible for the quality of their code, which includes writing and maintaining unit tests.

In Agile projects, a 'Business-oriented work product' refers to any deliverable that provides business value or is directly usable by the end users or stakeholders of the project. Among the options provided, a user manual is a typical example of a business-oriented work product because it is designed for end users, helping them understand and use the product effectively. Other options, such as the released product itself, acceptance testing criteria, and usability test results, while important, do not fit the definition of a business-oriented work product in the same direct manner as a user manual does.