Sample

Exam
ISTQB Agile Foundation
Questions




Exam Prepared By

November 2016

#1 Which of the following is the correct pairing according to the Agile Manifesto statement of
values?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Individuals and Interactions over Working Software

Individuals and Interactions over Contract Negotiation
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
Individuals and Interactions over Customer Collaboration

#2 The statement Working software is the primary measure of progress is found where in the
Agile process description?
a.
b.
c.
d.

It is one of the value statements

It is one of the twelve principles
It is a description of an Agile methodology
It is a part of the XP methodology

#3 In an Agile team, who is responsible for quality?

a.
b.
c.
d.

The developers
The testers
The product owner
The entire team

#4 What is the purpose of a daily stand-up meeting?

a. It provides team building by encouraging everyone to stand up together for a quick
exercise session
b. It provides a way for each member to communicate progress and problems
c. It forces the team to be co-located
d. It helps determine where overtime will be required to keep the project on schedule
#5 Which of the following is an example of a practice that provides early feedback to the
developers?
a.
b.
c.
d.

User acceptance testing

Continuous integration
Stand-up meetings
Changing requirements

#6 When the customer in an Agile project provides feedback indicating that a piece of
functionality was not implemented correctly, what should the Agile team do with this information?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Record it and put an item in the backlog for consideration by the team
Stop all planned development and implement the change for the customer
Write a defect report and address the issue when the backlog has been cleared
Update the requirements document and require customer sign-off before implementing
any changes

#7 In which Agile approach is simplicity one of the stated values used to guide development?
a.
b.
c.
d.

XP
Kanban
Scrum
TDD

#8 If you are using a board to show the various stations of activities, such as development or
testing, what type of Agile approach are you following?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Task Board
Kanban
Scrum
XP

#9 You are reviewing the following story with the business and product owners:
As a dog owner, I want to register my dog online, so I can quickly complete this legal requirement
of dog ownership.
You want to implement the INVEST technique during this review. Which INVEST item is missing
from this story and would need additional elaboration?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Security
Value
Testability
The 3C Concept

#10 Why is it important for a team to implement only a few improvements in an iteration?
a. If the team tries to implement too many improvements, they may feel defeated and lose
motivation
b. If the team tries to implement too many improvements it may disrupt their ability to
produce at a sustained pace
c. If the team tries to implement too many improvements it may set a management
expectation of radical change with each iteration
d. If the team tries to implement too many improvements they may lose sight of the
definition of done
#11 In a retrospective meeting, who should provide input into the testing activities on the project?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Only the developers

Only the testers
Everyone but the testers
Everyone on the team

#12 What types of automated testing activities are included in the continuous integration
process?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Unit only
Unit and regression testing
Unit and integration testing
Unit, integration, and system testing

#13 What is the proper order of planning?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Release, then iteration

Iteration, then release
Both occur at the same time
In most Agile projects only one type of planning is done, either release or iteration

#14 In an Agile project, which of the following is usually checked into a configuration
management system?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Epics
Stories
Iterations
Code

#15 In an Agile project, when is software first expected to be delivered that will provide value to
the customer?
a.
b.
c.
d.

At the end of the project

At the end of a release
At the end of an iteration
At the end of an epic

#16 What does it mean when a feature is classified as done?

a.
b.
c.
d.

It has been developed

It has been developed and integrated
It has been developed, integrated and tested
It has been developed, integrated, tested and released to production

#17 If your Agile team has an on-going need for specialized testers to conduct performance
testing, which organizational structure would be most effective?
a. The Agile team has people who have been designated as the testers for a sprint or set of
sprints
b. The Agile team has independent testers who join the team at the end of the sprint
c. A separate and independent test team furnishes testers to the Agile projects/teams as
needed based on the skills required
d. The testing is outsourced to an external company with performance test expertise

#18 What is a benefit of tester independence in an Agile project?

a. The independent tester is able to provide an objective evaluation of the quality of the
product being tested
b. The independent tester is able to rely on the testing performed by the developers
c. The independent tester may have relationship issues with the Agile team that is
accustomed to working together
d. The independent tester can provide project management skills as well as testing for the
project
#19 What does a burndown chart measure?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Schedule time against expected budget

Return on investment
How quickly activities move between stations
The amount of work still to be done against the time allocated

#20 What does a task board show?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Tasks completed against the budget spent

Return on investment
The progression of the tasks selected for an iteration
The number of tasks still to be done against the time allocated

#21 Which of the following is a reasonable expectation for a test case during its life?
a.
b.
c.
d.

It will not change

It will be automated and will require only minimal maintenance
It will evolve with the software
It will be owned by the developer who writes the associated code

#22 When should automated acceptance tests be run?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Before code is checked into the build

As often as the continuous integration full system build is created
During UAT as a replacement for testing by the business users
Only when the full release is complete

#23 Which of the following is a tester skill that is more important in an Agile environment than in
a sequential lifecycle environment?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Collaboration
Manual testing
Performance testing
Test case preparation

#24 What is an important job for the Agile tester during the release and iteration planning
sessions?
a.
b.
c.
d.

To report defects
To ensure the appropriate testing tasks are scheduled
To select the testing tools
To suggest process improvements

#25 If an Agile team is using testing tools such as a test management tool, who is responsible for
ensuring the proper use of the tool?
a.
b.
c.
d.

The scrum master

The development manager
The tester
The configuration manager

#26 If the developer adds a test that captures his concept of the desired functionality of the code
and then develops the code to pass that test, what type of development is being done?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Test-driven development
Acceptance test-driven development
Behavior-driven development
Developer-driven development

#27 If it is particularly important for the business users to understand the tests that are being
used to verify the proper implementation of the code, what type of development framework should
be used?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Test-driven
Integration test-driven
Behavior-driven
Business-driven

#28 In the test pyramid, which level has the largest number of tests?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Acceptance
System
Integration
Unit

#29 Which testing quadrant is associated with user acceptance tests?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4

#30 Which quadrant is primarily associated with supporting the developers?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4

#31 You are a tester in a Scrum team. You have been testing the product for several iterations
and you are noticing that the error message format and text are inconsistent. For example, when
the user enters an invalid address in one part of the application, they are given the message
Invalid input in a red font whereas when they enter an invalid phone number they are given the
message The phone number you have entered is not in a valid format. Please enter the phone
number as (xxx) xxx-xxxx in a blue font. The stories do not specify how the error messages
should appear. What should you do?
a. Nothing. Since the stories do not specify the error message text or format, the
implementation is up to the discretion of the developer
b. Write a defect report for the first instance since that message should have more
information for the user
c. Request a meeting with the developers to discuss the consistency problems and help
guide the discussion to determine the error message standards for the project
d. Appeal to the scrum master to intervene and instruct the developers to use a standard
error message template that will force a consistent font and color for all error messages
of this type
#32 You have identified a usability risk with the mobile application you are currently testing.
When the application loses connectivity with the web server, the user is not informed of the
problem and all information entered after that point is lost. What is a reasonable assessment of
this risk?
a. The impact is high because the user will lose their data. The likelihood depends on how
often connectivity will be lost.
b. The impact is low because the user can retype their information. The likelihood is high
because the original data is lost.
c. The impact is medium because the user should expect this type of behavior. The
likelihood is medium because the problem will be intermittent.
d. The impact is high because the user will not understand what is happening and will likely
call the helpdesk. The likelihood is low because the network connectivity is reliable and
unlikely to have any issues.
#33 You have been asked to estimate the story points for a particular story using the Fibonacci
sequence. You have reviewed the story, but it seems to indicate a significant amount of work and
a number of unknowns, particularly around the creation of test data. At this point, you dont know
if youll be able to use existing data or will have to create your own. You also dont know how you
will test the interfaces between this story and the existing code.
Given this information, what would be the proper value to assign in story points?
a.
b.
c.
d.

1
5
13
18

#34 You are testing a story for a mobile banking application and you have noticed that the
response time seems slow. You have checked the acceptance criteria for the story and nothing
is mentioned regarding performance requirements. What should you do now?
a. Write a defect report and leave it to the developers to figure out how to make it faster
b. Stop testing and require that the business owners define specific performance testing
requirements in the acceptance criteria
c. Continue testing with the assumption that the product owners will identify the problem, if it
is indeed a problem, when they do user acceptance testing
d. Review similar products, existing documentation on acceptable performance and talk with
the business users to determine the performance requirements
#35 Why is a users knowledge of the business procedures, processes and constraints important
when defining acceptance criteria for stories?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Because it helps define the security required in the final product

Because it is needed to define the business rules that must be supported by the product
Because it is used to ensure the efficiency of the developed code
Because it is needed to understand all the external interfaces of the software

#36 You are reviewing the acceptance criteria for a story. One of these states All windows must
conform to the corporate approved color scheme. In what way does this statement help improve
the testability of the story?
a.
b.
c.
d.

It explains the functional behavior that the software must supply

It provides a realistic use case for the software
It defines the business rules that must be implemented
It supplies a constraint for the solution

#37 You have been given the following story:

As a plant lover who travels frequently, I want to have an automated watering system, so that my
plants wont die.
You have also been given the following acceptance criteria:
1. The water should turn on when the temperature is > 85 degrees and the moisture content
of the soil changes from normal to dry.
2. The water should be dispersed for 5 minutes at the rate of 0.5 ounces per minute.
Which of the following is the first test case that should be written for the acceptance-test driven
implementation?
a. Set the soil moisture level to wet, then increase the heat and verify that the moisture
level changes to normal and then to dry and then to parched
b. Set the temperature > 85 degrees and verify that the temperature is increased
accordingly
c. Set the temperature to < 85 degrees and the moisture to dry and verify that no water is
dispersed
d. Set the temperature to > 85 degrees and the moisture to dry and verify that water is
dispersed

#38 You have been given the following story:

As a plant lover who travels frequently, I want to have an automated watering system, so that my
plants wont die.
You have also been given the following acceptance criteria:
1. The water should turn on when the temperature is > 85 degrees and the moisture content
of the soil changes from normal to dry.
2. The water should be dispersed for 5 minutes at the rate of 0.5 ounces per minute.
Which one of the following provides the proper values to use to achieve 100% two-value
boundary value analysis coverage with the minimum number of test cases?
a. Temperature at 85 and 86, moisture at dry and normal
b. Temperature at 85 and 86, moisture at dry and normal, water disbursement for 5
minutes and 5 minutes 1 second, rate at 0.5 and 0.4
c. Temperature at 85 and 86, moisture at dry and normal, water disbursement for 5
minutes and 4 minutes 59 seconds, rate at 0.5 and 0.6
d. Temperature at 85 and 84, moisture at dry and normal
#39 You have been given the following story:
As a plant lover who travels frequently, I want to have an automated watering system, so that my
plants wont die.
You have also been given the following acceptance criteria:
1. The water should turn on when the temperature is > 85 degrees and the moisture content
of the soil changes from normal to dry.
2. The water should be dispersed for 5 minutes at the rate of 0.5 ounces per minute
Which of the following is a question that would be most appropriate to ask when preparing to
conduct exploratory testing?
a. How many of these systems will run concurrently getting data from the same temperature
controller?
b. Which equivalence partitions and boundary values should be tested?
c. How does the software transition from the normal to dry state?
d. What can be done with the software that might cause it to fail or act in an unexpected
way?
#40 What is the purpose of continuous integration tools?
a.
b.
c.
d.

To support black-box testing

To provide a basis for structured reviews of the requirements
To support the daily build and deployment of software
To track the tasks of the team