Standard Glossary Of Terms Used In Software Testing .

ISTQB Glossary Report - All Termsacceptance criteriaRef: IEEE 610The exit criteria that a component or system must satisfy in order to be accepted by a user,customer, or other authorized entity.acceptance testingRef: After IEEE 610See Also: user acceptance testingFormal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processes conducted todetermine whether or not a system satisfies the acceptance criteria and to enable the user,customers or other authorized entity to determine whether or not to accept the system.accessibility testingRef: GerrardTesting to determine the ease by which users with disabilities can use a component or system.accuracyRef: ISO 9126See Also: functionalityThe capability of the software product to provide the right or agreed results or effects with theneeded degree of precision.accuracy testingSee Also: accuracyTesting to determine the accuracy of a software product.acting (IDEAL)See Also: IDEALThe phase within the IDEAL model where the improvements are developed, put into practice, anddeployed across the organization. The acting phase consists of the activities: create solution,pilot/test solution, refine solution and implement solution.actorUser or any other person or system that interacts with the system under test in a specific way.actual resultSynonyms: actual outcomeThe behavior produced/observed when a component or system is tested.ad hoc testingTesting carried out informally. No formal test preparation takes place, no recognized test design1

technique is used, there are no expectations for results and arbitrariness guides the testexecution activity.adaptabilityRef: ISO 9126See Also: portabilityThe capability of the software product to be adapted for different specified environments withoutapplying actions or means other than those provided for this purpose for the software considered.Agile ManifestoA statement on the values that underpin Agile software development. The values are: individualsand interactions over processes and tools, responding to change over following a plan, customercollaboration over contract negotiation, working software over comprehensive documentation.Agile software developmentA group of software development methodologies based on iterative incremental development,where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing crossfunctional teams.Agile testingSee Also: test-driven developmentTesting practice for a project using Agile software development methodologies, incorporatingtechniques and methods, such as extreme programming (XP), treating development as thecustomer of testing and emphasizing the test-first design paradigm.alpha testingSimulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test teamat the developers' site, but outside the development organization. Alpha testing is oftenemployed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing.analytical test strategyA test strategy whereby the test team analyzes the test basis to identify the test conditions tocover.analytical testingTesting based on a systematic analysis of e.g., product risks or requirements.analyzabilityRef: ISO 9126See Also: maintainabilityThe capability of the software product to be diagnosed for deficiencies or causes of failures in thesoftware, or for the parts to be modified to be identified.2

anomalyRef: IEEE 1044See Also: defect, error, fault, failure, incident, problemAny condition that deviates from expectation based on requirements specifications, designdocuments, user documents, standards, etc., or from someone's perception or experience.Anomalies may be found during, but not limited to, reviewing, testing, analysis, compilation, oruse of software products or applicable documentation.anti-patternRepeated action, process, structure or reusable solution that initially appears to be beneficial andis commonly used but is ineffective and/or counterproductive in practice.APIAcronym for Application Programming Interface.API testingTesting performed by submitting commands to the software under test using programminginterfaces of the application directly.assessment reportSee Also: process assessmentA document summarizing the assessment results, e.g., conclusions, recommendations andfindings.assessorA person who conducts an assessment. Any member of an assessment team.atomic conditionA condition that cannot be decomposed, i.e., a condition that does not contain two or more singleconditions joined by a logical operator (AND, OR, XOR).attack-based testingSee Also: attackAn experience-based testing technique that uses software attacks to induce failures, particularlysecurity related failures.attractivenessRef: ISO 9126See Also: usabilityThe capability of the software product to be attractive to the user.3

auditRef: IEEE 1028An independent evaluation of software products or processes to ascertain compliance tostandards, guidelines, specifications, and/or procedures based on objective criteria, includingdocuments that specify: (1) the form or content of the products to be produced, (2) the processby which the products shall be produced, (3) how compliance to standards or guidelines shall bemeasured.audit trailRef: After TMapA path by which the original input to a process (e.g., data) can be traced back through theprocess, taking the process output as a starting point. This facilitates defect analysis and allows aprocess audit to be carried out.automated testwareTestware used in automated testing, such as tool scripts.automation code defect densitySee Also: defect densityDefect density of a component of the test automation code.availabilityRef: IEEE 610The degree to which a component or system is operational and accessible when required for use.Often expressed as a percentage.balanced scorecardSee Also: corporate dashboard, scorecardA strategic tool for measuring whether the operational activities of a company are aligned with itsobjectives in terms of business vision and strategy.baselineRef: After IEEE 610A specification or software product that has been formally reviewed or agreed upon, thatthereafter serves as the basis for further development, and that can be changed only through aformal change control process.basic blockA sequence of one or more consecutive executable statements containing no branches. Note: Anode in a control flow graph represents a basic block.4

basis test setA set of test cases derived from the internal structure of a component or specification to ensurethat 100% of a specified coverage criterion will be achieved.behaviorThe response of a component or system to a set of input values and preconditions.benchmark testRef: After IEEE 610(1) A standard against which measurements or comparisons can be made. (2) A test that is usedto compare components or systems to each other or to a standard as in (1).best practiceA superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of anorganization under given context, usually recognized as "best" by other peer organizations.beta testingSynonyms: field testingOperational testing by potential and/or existing users/customers at an external site not otherwiseinvolved with the developers, to determine whether or not a component or system satisfies theuser/customer needs and fits within the business processes. Beta testing is often employed as aform of external acceptance testing for off-the-shelf software in order to acquire feedback fromthe market.big-bang testingRef: After IEEE 610See Also: integration testingAn integration testing approach in which software elements, hardware elements, or both arecombined all at once into a component or an overall system, rather than in stages.black-box test design techniqueSynonyms: black-box technique, specification-based technique, specification-based test design techniqueProcedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the specification, eitherfunctional or non-functional, of a component or system without reference to its internal structure.black-box testingSynonyms: specification-based testingTesting, either functional or non-functional, without reference to the internal structure of thecomponent or system.blocked test caseA test case that cannot be executed because the preconditions for its execution are not fulfilled.5

bottom-up testingSee Also: integration testingAn incremental approach to integration testing where the lowest level components are testedfirst, and then used to facilitate the testing of higher level components. This process is repeateduntil the component at the top of the hierarchy is tested.boundary valueAn input value or output value which is on the edge of an equivalence partition or at the smallestincremental distance on either side of an edge, for example the minimum or maximum value of arange.boundary value analysisSee Also: boundary valueA black-box test design technique in which test cases are designed based on boundary values.boundary value coverageThe percentage of boundary values that have been exercised by a test suite.branchA basic block that can be selected for execution based on a program construct in which one oftwo or more alternative program paths is available, e.g., case, jump, go to, if-then-else.branch coverageThe percentage of branches that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% branch coverageimplies both 100% decision coverage and 100% statement coverage.branch testingA white-box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute branches.bufferRef: IEEE 610A device or storage area used to store data temporarily for differences in rates of data flow, timeor occurrence of events, or amounts of data that can be handled by the devices or processesinvolved in the transfer or use of the data.buffer overflowSee Also: bufferA memory access failure due to the attempt by a process to store data beyond the boundaries ofa fixed length buffer, resulting in overwriting of adjacent memory areas or the raising of anoverflow exception.6

build verification test (BVT)See Also: regression testing, smoke testA set of automated tests which validates the integrity of each new build and verifies its key/corefunctionality, stability and testability. It is an industry practice when a high frequency of buildreleases occurs (e.g., Agile projects) and it is run on every new build before the build is releasedfor further testing.burndown chartA publicly displayed chart that depicts the outstanding effort versus time in an iteration. It showsthe status and trend of completing the tasks of the iteration. The X-axis typically represents daysin the sprint, while the Y-axis is the remaining effort (usually either in ideal engineering hours orstory points).business process-based testingAn approach to testing in which test cases are designed based on descriptions and/or knowledgeof business processes.call graphAn abstract representation of calling relationships between subroutines in a program.Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)Ref: CMMIA framework that describes the key elements of an effective product development andmaintenance process. The Capability Maturity Model Integration covers best-practices forplanning, engineering and managing product development and maintenance.capture/playbackA test automation approach, where inputs to the test object are recorded during manual testingin order to generate automated test scripts that could be executed later (i.e. replayed).capture/playback toolSynonyms: capture/replay tool, record/playback toolA type of test execution tool where inputs are recorded during manual testing in order togenerate automated test scripts that can be executed later (i.e. replayed). These tools are oftenused to support automated regression testing.CASEAcronym for Computer Aided Software Engineering.7

CASTSee Also: test automationAcronym for Computer Aided Software Testing.causal analysisRef: CMMIThe analysis of defects to determine their root cause.cause-effect diagramRef: After JuranSynonyms: fishbone diagram, Ishikawa diagramA graphical representation used to organize and display the interrelationships of various possibleroot causes of a problem. Possible causes of a real or potential defect or failure are organized incategories and subcategories in a horizontal tree-structure, with the (potential) defect or failureas the root node.cause-effect graphA graphical representation of inputs and/or stimuli (causes) with their associated outputs(effects), which can be used to design test cases.cause-effect graphingRef: BS 7925/2Synonyms: cause-effect analysisA black-box test design technique in which test cases are designed from cause-effect graphs.certificationThe process of confirming that a component, system or person complies with its specifiedrequirements, e.g., by passing an exam.change managementSee Also: configuration management(1) A structured approach to transitioning individuals and organizations from a current state to adesired future state. (2) Controlled way to effect a change, or a proposed change, to a product orservice.changeabilityRef: ISO 9126See Also: maintainabilityThe capability of the software product to enable specified modifications to be implemented.checklist-based testingAn experience-based test design technique whereby the experienced tester uses a high-level listof items to be noted, checked, or remembered, or a set of rules or criteria against which a8

product has to be verified.classification treeSee Also: classification tree methodA tree showing equivalence partitions hierarchically ordered, which is used to design test cases inthe classification tree method.classification tree methodRef: GrochtmannSee Also: combinatorial testingA black-box test design technique in which test cases, described by means of a classification tree,are designed to execute combinations of representatives of input and/or output domains.CLIAcronym for Command-Line Interface.CLI testingTesting performed by submitting commands to the software under test using a dedicatedcommand-line interface.co-existenceRef: ISO 9126See Also: portabilityThe capability of the software product to co-exist with other independent software in a commonenvironment sharing common resources.codeRef: IEEE 610Computer instructions and data definitions expressed in a programming language or in a formoutput by an assembler, compiler or other translator.code coverageAn analysis method that determines which parts of the software have been executed (covered)by the test suite and which parts have not been executed, e.g., statement coverage, decisioncoverage or condition coverage.codependent behaviorExcessive emotional or psychological dependence on another person, specifically in trying tochange that person's current (undesirable) behavior while supporting them in continuing thatbehavior. For example, in software testing, complaining about late delivery to test and yetenjoying the necessary "heroism", working additional hours to make up time when delivery isrunning late, therefore reinforcing the lateness.9

combinatorial testingSee Also: classification tree method, n-wise testing, pairwise testing, orthogonal array testingA black-box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute specificcombinations of values of several parameters.commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)Synonyms: off-the-shelf softwareA software product that is developed for the general market, i.e. for a large number of customers,and that is delivered to many customers in identical format.compilerRef: IEEE 610A software tool that translates programs expressed in a high-order language into their machinelanguage equivalents.complexitySee Also: cyclomatic complexityThe degree to which a component or system has a design and/or internal structure that is difficultto understand, maintain and verify.complianceRef: ISO 9126The capability of the software product to adhere to standards, conventions or regulations in lawsand similar prescriptions.compliance testingSynonyms: conformance testing, regulation testing, standards testingTesting to determine the compliance of the component or system.componentSynonyms: module, unitA minimal software item that can be tested in isolation.component integration testingSynonyms: link testingTesting performed to expose defects in the interfaces and interaction between integratedcomponents.component specificationA description of a component's function in terms of its output values for specified input values10

under specified conditions, and required non-functional behavior (e.g., resource-utilization).component testingRef: After IEEE 610Synonyms: module testing, program testing, unit testingThe testing of individual software components.compound conditionSynonyms: multiple conditionTwo or more single conditions joined by means of a logical operator (AND, OR or XOR), e.g., A BAND C 1000.concurrency testingRef: After IEEE 610Testing to determine how the occurrence of two or more activities within the same interval oftime, achieved either by interleaving the activities or by simultaneous execution, is handled bythe component or system.conditionSee Also: condition testingSynonyms: branch conditionA logical expression that can be evaluated as True or False, e.g., A B.condition coverageSynonyms: branch condition coverageThe percentage of condition outcomes that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% conditioncoverage requires each single condition in every decision statement to be tested as True andFalse.condition outcomeThe evaluation of a condition to True or False.condition testingA white-box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute conditionoutcomes.confidence intervalIn managing project risks, the period of time within which a contingency action must beimplemented in order to be effective in reducing the impact of the risk.11

configurationThe composition of a component or system as defined by the number, nature, andinterconnections of its constituent parts.configuration auditingRef: IEEE 610The function to check on the contents of libraries of configuration items, e.g., for standardscompliance.configuration controlRef: IEEE 610Synonyms: change control, version controlAn element of configuration management, consisting of the evaluation, coordination, approval ordisapproval, and implementation of changes to configuration items after formal establishment oftheir configuration identification.configuration control board (CCB)Ref: IEEE 610Synonyms: change control boardA grou

[ISO 2382/1] ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993. Data processing - Vocabulary - Part 1: Fundamental terms [ISO 8402] ISO 8402: 1994. Quality Management and Quality Assurance Vocabulary [ISO 9000] ISO 9000:2005. Quality Management Systems – Fundamentals and Vocabulary [ISO 9126] ISO/IEC 9126-1:2001.